HOUSTON — Houston police are looking into how a woman died at a Kingwood hospital shortly after being severely burned.
Homicide detectives say on June 26 around 4:10 a.m., medical staff at HCA Houston Healthcare Kingwood were using a defibrillator on Denise Jill Asaro, 69, of Cleveland, who was in cardiac arrest, when a fire broke out.
An HPD spokesperson told KHOU 11 News Thursday detectives will investigate whether the defibrillator caused the fire.
Detectives did not see any signs of foul play when they went to the hospital.
Jennifer Leigh Norton, whose mom was in that hospital, wrote on Facebook that fire alarms had been going off for two hours, and the north tower’s fifth floor was evacuated.
Norton posted photos of firefighters responding overnight and forensics investigators at the hospital later that morning.
HPD detectives are holding off on media interviews until they get autopsy results from Montgomery County to learn the cause and manner of Asaro’s death.
A relative told KHOU 11 News that Asaro and her husband, David, had been hospitalized for COVID. David Asaro died earlier in the month.
One of the couple’s adult sons also died in early June. The cause of his death has not been determined.
A spokesperson with HCA Houston Healthcare Kingwood emailed KHOU 11 the following statement in response to questions about Denise Jill Asaro’s death.
“A tragic incident occurred at HCA Houston Healthcare Kingwood on Saturday June 26. Because we are obligated to protect patient confidentiality, the hospital is not at liberty to discuss any specific details about the incident or the patient involved.
The hospital and its medical staff take this matter very seriously. We have begun an internal investigation and are working with local authorities to assist with their investigation. Our current focus is on supporting the family.
We remain committed to providing a safe and secure environment for all of our patients, visitors and colleagues.”
In 2019 inside San Antonio’s Methodist Hospital, investigators say a defibrillator being used to resuscitate a man sparked, igniting oxygen in the room that had been left on and causing his body to catch fire.
ERCI Institute, a nonprofit medical safety organization, found that defibrillator fires can happen when a source of high oxygen concentration is near the defibrillation site during defibrillation and when defibrillation produces an electric arc.
Houston police are asking anyone with additional information on the June 26 incident to call their Homicide Division at 713-308-3600.