SOUTH MIAMI, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Miami living facility has surrendered its license just one day after the owner was arrested for alleged elder abuse of one of its residents.
7News cameras on Thursday captured three agents of the state regulations department entering 77-year-old Josephine Gurri’s home and exiting as they continued their investigation of the incident.
According to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, The Good Family Home Inc. assisted living facility surrendered their license to the agency on Thursday.
All residents living at the facility have been removed, and the families are working with the agency to relocate them.
7News cameras captured family members moving their loved ones out of the home, Thursday afternoon.
South Miami Police confirmed families have removed their loved ones from the home following news of the incident.
Gurri was arrested on Tuesday after, police said, the victim’s granddaughter told them her 84-year-old grandmother, who has Alzheimer’s, was “abused and physically beaten by the suspect.
The granddaughter told police that a video, recorded by a previous caretaker earlier this month and sent to her, shows Gurri “striking (the victim) in the buttocks and lower back area.”
“What I saw, what I witnessed was rough,” said the granddaughter.
In the cellphone video, obtained by 7News, the screams of the 84-year-old are heard while she is in the restroom with Gurri. Then the sound of a slap is heard.
“She grabs her like a – and she smacks her purposely, like hard,” said the granddaughter.
The granddaughter shared photos of the bruises on her grandmother’s face and legs.
Gurri appeared in bond court on Wednesday.
“All right, ma’am, you need to get yourself a lawyer if you can afford one,” said Miami-Dade Dade Circuit Judge Leon M. Firtel.
In addition to running the living facility for 20 years, Gurri was also listed as a staff member with the job title of nursery caregiver at Riviera Presbyterian Church. She has since been removed from the church’s website.
South Miami Police are now focused on finding out whether Gurri’s behavior caught on camera was a common occurrence at the facility.
“It’s stomach-turning to see that video,” said South Miami Police Sgt. Fernando Bosch. “Our concern is that there are other victims that haven’t come forward yet.”
Bosch said the actions on the video have no place in society, especially at an assisted living facility.
“This shouldn’t be happening at an assisted living facility where you expect your family members to be taken care of. This shouldn’t be happening,” said Bosch.
The grandmother victim has been moved in with family members.
Gurri bonded out overnight after a bond court judge set her bond at $1,000. She was also ordered to stay away from the victim.
7News cameras captured Gurri opening the door to investigators and exiting her home. 7News reporters knocked on her door to see if she would like to make an on-camera statement, but Gurri wasn’t interested in talking.
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