Mother of Margaret Morgan, A Young Woman With A Developmental Disability Who Died in Project Roomkey, Wants Answers

A woman with a severe cognitive disability died in a motel room provided by Project Roomkey and was not found for days, and her mother wants answers. She has connected with Vallejo attorney Daniel Russo and intends to file a lawsuit.

The Vallejo Sun was the first to report about the coroner’s findings released for Margaret Morgan, who died last May at the Hampton Inn on Fairgrounds Drive. Her mother, Liona Smith, also a resident of the motel at the time, says that the EMTs told her that her child had been “dead a week” before anyone noticed.

The coroner’s report confirms that she was in the “early stages” of decomposition. Tests on Morgan’s body during the autopsy did not reveal her cause of death.

Morgan’s sister, Latosha Wormsley, told me that she peeked into the room where Margaret was found and saw her normally petite body badly bloated.

Attorney Russo told me that he was “disgusted” with what happened and that Project Roomkey took the time to shampoo the carpets in the hallway after people complained of the smell, but didn’t, as is alleged, bother to check on Margaret or any other guest who may have died and created the odor. Ms. Smith, Morgan’s mother, said she has lost her sense of smell as she aged and did not notice anything.

Morgan’s mom is the sort of person Vallejoans hoped the Project Roomkey would take care of— retired, down on her luck, sober, and in need of shelter during the pandemic. She’s grateful for the roof over her head, showers, and access to a refrigerator that she was given. She has also been given housing since through Shelter Inc. But Smith said she didn’t like “all the people doing drugs” around her. A devout Jehovah’s Witness, Smith has conservative values and keeps her head down and her nose clean, she said.

Morgan was born with type-1 diabetes and her blood sugar frequently dipped to dangerous levels. So dangerous, that at one point several years ago her heart stopped, blocking oxygen to her brain, according to her mother. This episode left her incredibly disabled and vulnerable.

“You had to prompt her to do everything,” said Smith. If the room was on fire, you’d have to tell her to get up and leave, because she could not process such things herself, she said.

Smith and Morgan had rooms across from one another at the motel. Smith said she had asked for adjoining rooms but was denied. No one from Project Roomkey or any of the various organizations that facilitated the program would talk to me for this story.

Smith took it upon herself to check on her daughter up to three times a day to make sure her blood sugar was OK, she said. At first, Project Roomkey gave her a key to her daughter’s room, but one day both of their key cards stopped working, she alleges. Smith says that Morgan was given a new card but that she was not. After that, she had to depend on her daughter coming to her door or answering her telephone to check on her.

Smith said that at one point, she had not heard from Margaret in two days and had not been let into her room. She alleges that she asked the motel staff downstairs to do a wellness check.

“They said, ‘Oh yes Miss Liona, we will check on her.'” she said they told her. Smith does not believe that this actually happened. I was unable to prove or disprove this.

Smith said she trusted that someone was checking on her daughter and would let her know if there was a problem. When she still hadn’t heard from her daughter and also hadn’t heard from the staff, she assumed Morgan had gone to visit friends for a few days, which she had done periodically.

Though the two had had a “falling out” on Mother’s Day due to Margaret seeing someone problematic who called himself “White Chocolate,” she said it didn’t stop her from attempting to check up on her.

“I don’t care if I make her angry,” she said. “I’m her mother and I’m going to make sure she’s OK.”

Despite Margaret’s disability, under California law, she had the right to make her own decisions and live independently at Project Roomkey. But this story still raises questions as to what, if any, oversight of tenants was the responsibility of Project Roomkey. I could not get anyone to respond to my inquiries.

Assistant City Manager at the time Anne Cardwell told me that the City couldn’t comment very much on the event, but that motel staff checked on Morgan after they noticed that she hadn’t been coming down for cigarette breaks. Cardwell also said that the City was of the impression that Morgan and her mother were “estranged.”

“We weren’t estranged,” said Smith defiantly.

Smith is also upset that Project Roomkey “got rid” of all her daughter’s things without notifying her, turning them over to her, or allowing her to clean out her room. She alleges that her daughters birth certificate, social security card, and other important life items have gone unaccounted for.

“It was cold-blooded,” said Smith.

I originally visited the Hampton Inn in June and was let in by the security guard at the gate. Once inside, the front desk staff held up a post-it note with the City’s public information officer’s phone number. Soon other security personnel approached me and said that no press were to be allowed inside. One guard showed me an email sent within 24 hours that said as much, advising no staff in the building to speak to Katy St. Clair. I had emailed then Project Roomkey director and Executive Director of the Fighting Back Partnership, Kevin Sharps, a day prior.

Vallejo Chief of Police Shawny Williams said that, as of last summer, their investigation showed “no foul play.”