Anesthesiologist mom of 2 died inside Dollar Tree freezer from hypothermia after getting 'trapped' inside, autopsy report and lawsuit say

A Florida anesthesiologist and parent of 2 who wound up dormant "inside a freezer" astatine a Miami Dollar Tree past twelvemonth aft she "became trapped inside" had intoxicant successful her strategy and died of "environmental hypothermia," according to the aesculapian examiner's office.

The authoritative autopsy study for 32-year-old Helen Massiell Garay Sanchez, which was obtained by Law&Crime, lists her December 2025 decease arsenic being caused by hypothermia with "ethanol use" being a contributory cause. Her toxicology report shows that she had a humor ethanol level of 0.112%, which is supra Florida's 0.08% ineligible bounds to drive.

Miami-Dade aesculapian examiners Jusmita Saifullan and Nicholas Barna wrote successful the autopsy study that Sanchez had "blunt unit injuries" that included "contusions connected the near forearm, near hand, hips, buttocks, and little extremities," arsenic good arsenic "abrasions connected the abdomen, near arm, and little extremities."

The Miami Police Department told Law&Crime aft Sanchez was recovered connected Dec. 14 that "no foul play is suspected," but that hasn't stopped her household from filing a $50 cardinal lawsuit accusing Dollar Tree unit of being "vicariously liable" for her death. The store is located at 968 SW 8th Street successful Little Havana.

In the legal complaint, Sanchez's household says a manager instructed a idiosyncratic connected work "not to reappraisal the surveillance footage" aft being "placed connected existent notice" that Sanchez was missing and "had not exited" the Dollar Tree aft she was allegedly seen by workers walking wrong connected the Saturday nighttime earlier it closed. It besides accuses the manager of failing to instrumentality "reasonable enactment to find oregon assist" the mom aft she entered the freezer.

"While an invitee connected the premises, Sanchez became trapped wrong a walk-in freezer located wrong the Dollar Tree Store and thereafter sustained fatal injuries," the ailment says.

"At each times material, Dollar Tree owed Sanchez and different invitees a nondelegable work to workout tenable attraction successful the ownership, operation, inspection, maintenance, and supervision of the Dollar Tree Store, including … securing and safely maintaining unsafe instrumentalities, including walk-in freezers … and taking tenable enactment to find and assistance invitees aft being placed connected announcement that a lawsuit was missing oregon unaccounted for," the ailment adds.

Police told Law&Crime that dispatch "received a telephone from an employee, who reported that determination was a deceased pistillate wrong of the business, wrong of the freezer," connected the nighttime Sanchez disappeared. A 911 dispatcher was heard connected a constabulary scanner saying, "Complainant recovered a bare pistillate successful the cooler of the store," according to section CBS affiliate WFOR.

Officers responded to the Dollar Tree and allegedly recovered Sanchez's body successful a freezer located successful a restricted, employee-only country wrong of the discount store. Police said it didn't look that Sanchez was forced into the freezer, but it was unclear however she ended up there. Cops said Sanchez didn't bargain thing and was spotted making her mode to the freezer successful the backmost retention room.

The store manager, Yanelkis Gonzalez, was asked by a lawsuit to "review disposable surveillance footage" to effort and find Sanchez, according to her family's complaint. But helium allegedly refused.

"Gonzalez affirmatively instructed the Dollar Tree worker not to reappraisal the surveillance footage," the ailment says.

Gonzalez is besides accused of "failing to implement, bid employees on, and enforce tenable closing-time policies and procedures to guarantee that each patrons and invitees, including Sanchez, had exited the Dollar Tree Store anterior to closing," per the complaint. Sanchez's household besides says the freezer successful question was faulty and store workers failed to forestall shoppers from "accessing" it.

"Dollar Tree was negligent and breached its duties of attraction to Sanchez by … failing to install, maintain, and/or instrumentality capable information mechanisms wrong the walk-in freezer, including but not constricted to an interior exigency release, latch, oregon alarm, to forestall entrapment," the ailment concludes.

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Dollar Tree absorption has not responded to Law&Crime's requests for comment.

A GoFundMe launched for Sanchez's household describes her arsenic a "devoted" doc and "beloved" parent who "dedicated her beingness to medicine, earning designation arsenic an Anesthesiologist specializing successful congenital bosom illness whose enactment brought anticipation and healing to countless children and families."

"Her compassion, skill, and committedness to redeeming young lives defined some her vocation and her character," the GoFundMe says of Sanchez, who was primitively from Nicaragua. "Beyond her profession, she was a loving parent to 2 children, who stay successful Nicaragua and were the halfway of her world. Her strength, warmth, and unwavering emotion for her household volition ever beryllium remembered."