SALT LAKE CITY — Over a year and a half ago, a teen with autism escaped from a Utah group home managed by Future Rising Agency, stole two cars, hit a motorcyclist, and ultimately was shot and killed by police officers.
Now, several employees have been charged with felony offenses including abuse, neglect, obstruction of justice, and tampering with witnesses and evidence.
FOX 13 News previously reported that employees of Future Rising Agency were being investigated several months after the incident for possible neglect.
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On Tuesday, the Utah Attorney General's Office charged six people with mishandling the teen's case in one way or another, including an attempted cover-up of his escape several hours after the fact.
- Nadira Yassin, age 52, was the executive director of Future Rising. She was charged with two counts of Abuse or Neglect of a Child with a Disability, a 3rd-degree felony.
- Hanan Obied, 25, was the program director. She was also charged with two counts of Abuse or Neglect of a Child with a Disability, along with four counts of Tampering with a Witness, one count of Tampering with Evidence, and Obstruction of Justice.
- Muhamed Dahir, 29, was the director of operations. He was charged with the same offenses as Yassin, plus one count of Tampering with a Witness.
- Kauata Bloomfield, 50, was a consultant for Future Rising and was charged with a single count of Abuse or Neglect of a Child with a Disability.
- Mele Pauni, 54, worked for Primary Support Services, which had custody of the teen before he was handed over to Future Rising just about a week before the fatal incident. Pauni was charged with one count each of Abuse or Neglect of a Child with a Disability, Tampering with a Witness, Tampering with Evidence, and Obstruction of Justice.
- Lusinita Makalio, 57, was a house manager for Future Rising. She was the person who discovered that the teen was missing when she went to clean his room at 11 a.m. that day. She was charged with one count of Obstruction of Justice.
The teen had been moved to a new home in Bluffdale the day before he escaped. The exact time of his escape was not given; however, the teen was reported to have stolen a vehicle as early as 7:30 a.m.
Charging documents allege that senior employees with Future Rising, as well as Pauni, instructed Makalio to not call police to report the teen missing "until Bloomfield finished her investigation." Prosecutors said Bloomfield sent a text message to Obied and Pauni, saying they needed to "Make sure we have the story straight before we call 911.”
Yassin and Obied allegedly fabricated a story to tell police, the teen's support coordinator, and the teen's mom.
According to the charges, the "caretakers" told the coordinator and the teen's mom at 2:17 p.m. that he was taken to a library in West Jordan and had escaped from there about 10 minutes prior.
However, by that point, it had already been over an hour since the teen was shot by police.
It wasn't until 5:26 p.m. that Pauni told Makalio to call the police and tell them the false story of the teen escaping from the library, according to the charges. By that point, it had been several hours since the teen had been shot. He died that same day.
The charges also point out that the home lacked the proper alarms and locks to prevent the teen from escaping, which he reportedly had a history of doing.
According to court documents, an "impromptu meeting" was held at 1 a.m. the next day, in which Pauni and Obied decided all communications regarding the teen that day should be erased. They allegedly told Makalio to delete her texts; however, she had already taken screenshots and sent them to someone who knew the teen's support coordinator.
Future Rising had its licenses revoked in May 2024, according to the Utah Department of Health and Human Services.
