Michigan health director Nick Lyon, 4 others face involuntary manslaughter charge over Flint water

FLINT — Attorney General Bill Schuette charged two high-ranking state health officials today in the fourth round of criminal charges in the Flint drinking water crisis.

He also said he will be adding new, serious felony charges against four defendants who were charged earlier in the investigation.

And Schuette said that while no charges currently are planned against Gov. Rick Snyder, his investigation continues, and "we have attempted to interview the governor," but "we were not successful."

Michigan Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon is charged with involuntary manslaughter and misconduct in office, both felonies.

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Chief Medical Executive Dr. Eden Wells is charged with obstruction of justice and lying to a police officer.

And four defendants charged earlier -- former Flint emergency manager Darnell Earley, former Michigan Department of Environmental Quality drinking water chief Liane Shekter-Smith, DEQ drinking water official Stephen Busch, and former City of Flint Water Department manager Howard Croft -- each will faced additional charges of involuntary manslaughter. Schuette said.

All of the new charges are in connection with the Legionnaires' disease outbreak in the Flint area that led to 12 deaths after the city's water supply was switched to the Flint River in April 2014.

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Health department officials released a statement from Gov. Rick Snyder saying he stands behind Lyon and Wells, and that they would remain in their jobs pending trial.

Lyon, 49, of Marshall is accused of causing the death of Robert Skidmore on Dec. 13, 2015 by failing to alert the public about a foreseeable outbreak of Legionnaires' disease. It's a 15-year felony.

All of the other involuntary manslaughter charges also relate to the death of Skidmore, who was 85 at the time of his death.

"Defendant Lyon was aware of Genesee County's Legionnaires' disease outbreak at least by Jan. 28, 2015, and did not notify the public until a year later," the charging documents allege.

Lyon "exhibited gross negligence when he failed to alert the public about the deadly outbreak and by taking steps to suppress information illustrating obvious and apparent harms that were likely to result in serious injury."

According to the charging documents, Lyon "willfully disregarded the deadly nature of the Legionnaires' disease outbreak," later saying he "can't save everyone," and "everyone has to die of something."

Chip Chamberlain and Larry Williey, Lyon's Grand Rapids attorneys, sai: "We are confident in our defense of Nick Lyon," and "the true facts simply do not support the prosecution’s claims." they said the case "appears to be a misguided theory looking for facts that do not exist," and Schuette's news conferences are prejudical and include false statements.

"We absolutely and vehemently dispute the charges," the attorneys said. "They are baseless. We intend to provide a vigorous defense of Nick Lyon and we expect the court system to vindicate him entirely."

Schuette said that he's heard from many people frustrated and angry that he has not brought charges against Snyder, the state's Republican governor since 2011. But he said he's also heard from those who feel he's been too hard on the Snyder administration, and charges are only being filed when the evidence warrants them.

Tuesday's charges, while they do not end the investigation, mark the end of one phase of the investigation and "a significant milestone," he said.

Andrew Arena, Schuette's chief criminal investigator and the former FBI director in Detroit, said what he has found most shocking is that "people had information in their possession" about the Legionnaires' disease outbreak, "and just failed to act."

Charges were authorized Wednesday morning by 67th District Court Judge G. David Guinn, in Flint.

On the misconduct in office charge, a five-year felony, Lyon is accused of instructing an official to discontinue an analysis that would help determine the cause of the outbreak.

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Wells, 54, of Ann Arbor is accused in connection with the obstruction of justice charge of providing false testimony to a special agent and threatening to withhold funding for the Flint Area Community Health and Environment Partnership if the partnership did not cease its investigation into the source of the outbreak. That's a five-year felony.

Wells also is charged with lying to a peace officer about the date she knew of the outbreak of Legionnaires' disease. That's a two-year misdemeanor.

"Dr. Wells vehemently denied the charges and the charges will be vigorously defended," Wells' lawyer, Jerold Lax told the Free Press in a statement.

According to the charging documents, Wells gave a statement to Schuette's investigators on April 12, 2016, pursuant to an agreement under which she would not be charged, provided she made no false statements.

Wells allegedly lied by saying she had no knowledge of the Legionnaires' disease outbreak until late September or early October of 2015, when in fact she knew about the outbreak in March 2015.

Watch our mini-documentary on the Flint water crisis, winner of a Michigan Emmy:

Don't Forget About Flint The ongoing Flint water crisis has taken a toll on residents of this iconic Michigan city, who have been living with lead-tainted tap water for over two years. One Flint resident describes the experience as, “like being in war, but without violence.”

Wells was appointed chief medical executive in May 2015. She previously served as medical consultant to the department's Bureau of Epidemiology from 2004 to 2011.

There were 12 deaths linked to Legionnaires' disease during a 17-month period in 2014 and 2015 in the Flint area. Dozens more were sickened by the disease, a severe type of pneumonia.

In previous years, six to 13 cases were typically confirmed annually in the county.

So far, 15 current or former state or City of Flint officials have been charged, including two emergency managers who were appointed by the governor and reported to the state treasurer.

Flint Mayor Karen Weaver issued a statement that said "manslaughter is a serious charge," and "it’s good to see that state Attorney General Schuette and his team are taking this matter seriously by bringing such serious charges against those who they believe didn’t do enough to address this public health threat, or to alert the Flint community about it."

Flint's drinking water became contaminated with lead in April 2014 after the city switched from treated Lake Huron water supplied from Detroit to raw water from the Flint River, which was treated at the Flint Water Treatment Plant.

Michigan Department of Environmental Quality officials have acknowledged a mistake in failing to require corrosion-control chemicals be added to the more corrosive water. As a result, lead leached from pipes, joints and fixtures into Flint households.

Though lead levels in the water have come down significantly since the state acknowledged the contamination around Oct. 1, 2015, residents are still advised not to drink tap water without a filter. Many still rely on bottled water, which can be picked up free at distribution centers in Flint.

Five of the current or former state employees charged previously are from the DEQ. Three are from the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

Outbreaks of Legionnaires' disease in the Flint area following the water switch were tied to the deaths. Officials haven't definitely linked the water switch to the disease, but Schuette and his investigators have come close to doing so in public statements and documents related to the criminal charges.

Lyon was told in September by state investigators that he was a focus of the investigation, Lyon's lawyer Willey of the Grand Rapids criminal defense firm Willey & Chamberlain told the Free Press in October.

"We haven't heard from them for months," Willey said late Tuesday. "I've received no notification ... that anything is in the offing."

Snyder named Lyon director of DHHS in April 2015 when he created a new agency that merged the former departments of community health and human services.

Previously, Lyon had served as health director beginning in September 2014, Before that, he was the agency's chief deputy director beginning in 2011.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.