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As more victims' relatives come forward, state entity now investigating Tarrant County boarding homes where 13 people died
Four victims have so far been identified. Relatives of each tell WFAA or police their loved ones entered the boarding homes relatively healthy, not near death.
Matt Houston (WFAA) 10:29 PM CDT Mar 18, 2024
ARLINGTON, Texas — Adult Protective Services (APS) is now investigating the unlicensed community living homes where Arlington Police believe 13 people died, a Department of Family and Protective Services spokesperson Monday told WFAA.
The APS is the first state entity to confirm it's looking into the case, which is already the subject of a local police investigation. Arlington authorities in February arrested Regla 'Su' Becquer, who operated the homes through her business 'Love and Caring for People, LLC.'
Details about APS investigations are confidential, but victims' relatives have offered to WFAA new information about their loved ones' deaths and conditions inside the homes.
WFAA has so far identified four people who died in Becquer's care. Relatives for each victim tell WFAA or police their loved ones entered the boarding homes relatively healthy but died after their arrival.
"The best outcome would be for everybody to learn what (Becquer) was about and make sure she never hurts anybody like that again," Neva Briscoe told WFAA Monday.
Briscoe's ex-husband, Phillip Johnson, died in October after staying at Becquer's home.
"He always was good at sensing things," Briscoe, who lives in Arkansas, said. "He did say, 'Something is going on here. I don't understand what's going on.'"
Briscoe says Johnson, an Air Force veteran, had lost his job. He became forgetful and did not want to live alone, she said.
After leaving his apartment, Johnson moved between boarding homes run by different companies in search of a better living situation, Briscoe said. Eventually, he moved into the 'Love and Caring for People, LLC' home.
It's not clear how long he lived there, but Briscoe says he sounded sicker and more confused the longer he stayed in the Mansfield home.
"He was starting to not make a lot of sense," she said. "His voice wasn't as clear. He was clearing his throat a lot."
The 71-year-old had never sounded like this before, Briscoe added. In September, Johnson stopped calling and did not answer the phone.
"I remember in October thinking, 'There's got to be something wrong with him,'" Briscoe said. "I told (a family friend) at that time, 'I'm afraid he's dead. He hasn't called me.'"
"The last time I talked to him, he was telling me, 'I just don't like this one at all. I've got to find a better place,'" she recalled.
Around the same time, a search warrant indicates Johnson's daughter called police and reported her father missing. The woman told investigators Becquer later called her, angry she'd involved authorities.
The warrant says Johnson died on Oct. 20, days after the phone call between Becquer and Johnson's daughter.
Arlington police have called the tenants staying with Becquer "perfect victims." Patients often lived away from relatives or had disabilities that made them easier to take advantage of.
Police also say Becquer cut off contact between tenants and their families. Becquer or other caretakers did not allow some patients to speak to their relatives unless she was in the room, a warrant says.
Some victims told relatives they believed they were being poisoned, according to search warrants and WFAA's interviews with family members. Arlington investigators believe Becquer also engaged in neglect, credit card abuse, forgery and falsification of credit applications based on the tenants' income.
Police say Becquer kept and used dead tenants' belongings, including at least three vehicles. Phillip Johnson's 2013 Ford Focus remains outside one of the boarding homes Monday.
Becquer is jailed on one felony endangerment charge connected to a single victim, though police have said they expect to press more charges and could make more arrests.
"I hope she gets put away and there's no way she or any of the ones working for her can ever hurt anybody else," Briscoe said.
Arlington police urge any current or past clients of Love and Caring for People, LLC or client’s family members to call a special tip line, at (817) 575-3230. This is a voicemail-only line, monitored daily.
https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/crime/state-entity-investigating-tarrant-county-boarding-homes-where-people-died/287-c61f347b-837f-4b56-b23a-bc5363aa36a8