Whistleblower alleges mental health organization failed to help family before double murder

MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – A fired mental health clinician says a double homicide suspect slipped though the cracks of Vermont’s mental health care system.

She says she unfairly lost her job for blowing the whistle on her colleagues and now she’s suing to get her job back.

The case centers around the killings of Mary and Jerry Gomes in their Montpelier home last year, a crime their adult son Matthew is charged with.

The plaintiff in a civil lawsuit filed last week says the couple might have been saved if mental health workers had done their jobs.

According to the lawsuit filed in Washington Superior Court, Mary Gomes called Washington County Mental Health Services on Wednesday, Nov. 13, over concerns about her son, Matthew Gomes, 29.

The plaintiff, former crisis intervention specialist Jordan Houston, says Mary Gomes requested help multiple times, but several of the calls were not recorded and staff did not respond to the Montpelier home.

“I would have called Montpelier police in that situation on Wednesday, asked whether a mental health warrant is needed or not. I would have tried to help the people who were calling for help,” Houston said.

Matthew Gomes, in a mental health crisis, repeatedly called 911 Thursday night and early Friday morning, but nobody responded until Friday morning, when police found his parents dead at their home on Gallison Hill Road.

Houston says if protocol had been followed and Wednesday’s information had been passed along, the police response might have been quicker and Mary and Jerry Gomes might still be alive.

“If we had better laws and firmer guidelines on what makes an emergency crisis clinician a crisis clinician,” Houston said.

She then says she was fired after raising concerns about whether protocol was broken.

“I don’t have any faith right now. I think we need some major major changes at the state level,” Houston said.

“People like Jordan who are tasked with caring for mental health patients and have to keep records for their agency should be able to do that even though what they write down is something that’s problematic for the employer,” said Tim Belcher, Houston’s lawyer.

In a statement, Washington County Mental Health CEO Beth Sightler calls Houston’s claims inaccurate, and that they stand by their timeline, procedure and actions. The statement said, in part: “We support and defend our staff, we are proud of the difficult work we have done and continue to do, even in the face of inaccurate and harmful claims.”

Washington County Mental Health has several weeks to respond to Houston’s allegations one by one.

Meanwhile, Matthew Gomes faces two charges of aggravated murder and is due in court for a status conference later this month.

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