State v. Copes

EYLER, DEBORAH S., J.

On July 12, 2003, Gladys Copes, age 63, died while a patient at the Deer’s Head Hospital Center (the “Center”), in Salisbury. The Center is a State-operated long-term nursing facility. Gladys had had several admissions to the Center in the months immediately preceding her death.

Corethia, Christal, and Chantel Copes are Gladys’s adult children, and her only living children. 1 Corethia is a resident of Salisbury; Christal and Chantel live in Virginia. Corethia was named personal representative under her mother’s will. At the time of her death, Gladys was not married.

On July…