Florida church denies intentionally exposing 17-year-old girl to COVID-19
FORT MYERS, Fla. – A church attended by a 17-year-old Lee County girl who died last month from COVID-19 denied social media allegations that it intentionally exposed members to the coronavirus and ignored safety guidelines on masks and social distancing.
In a Facebook post Tuesday, First Assembly of God called the claims “false and defamatory.”
“Those allegations are absolutely false and are based upon irresponsible speculation and inaccurate information,” the church statement reads. “Because those false reports have been picked up, perpetuated and posted throughout national, local and social media, the church has been subject to a relentless attack and finds itself forced to make this statement in an effort to get the truth out.”
Church representatives did not respond to an interview request after that posting. Hours later, First Assembly made its Facebook page private and available only to select members.
Carsyn Leigh Davis died June 23 as a result of complications from COVID-19, according to a Miami-Dade County medical examiner’s report. The girl struggled most of her life with health issues, including a rare nervous system disorder, obesity and an autoimmune disorder, the report said.
She attended a First Assembly church event June 10 with, according to the report, 100 other people. The report said she did not wear a mask or practice social distancing.
The accusations about the church stem from Twitter posts this week by Rebekah Jones, a former Florida Department of Health data official who was fired after claiming the state undercounts COVID-19 cases.
Jones characterized the June 10 event as a “coronavirus party” and posted a link to a copy of the medical examiner’s report. That report, which
USA TODAY Network-Florida obtained Monday, does not claim that eventgoers were intentionally exposed.
Jones posted screenshots of social media posts by Davis’ mother, Carole, that included anti-mask statements, including one with the headline “Don’t Mask Our Kids.”
Attempts to reach the family for comment were unsuccessful. Carole Brunton Davis took down her public Facebook page.
Jones showed screengrabs of announcements from the church before the event.
The church message June 10 on Facebook in full:
“Service is back and better than ever! We will be having our Release Party in the gym TONIGHT at 6:45. There will be games, awesome giveaways, free food, a DJ and music, and the start of our new sermon series. AND we’ll be starting Summer Nights afterwords (sic) with karaoke and basketball! We hope to see you there!”
Jones said she interpreted this and other church posts to mean that First Assembly was not taking the COVID-19 threat seriously.
She said the medical examiner’s report of the girl’s death said her mother gave her the antibiotic azithromycin – studied as a potential COVID-19 treatment – as a protective measure around the time of the event.
“The mom described it as a preventative measure from getting sicker,” Jones said. “But if that wasn’t an exposure party, why would you literally start giving her that drug that day?”
The girl’s mother is a registered nurse, and a man listed as her father in the medical examiner’s report is a physician assistant.
Investigators said Carsyn Leigh Davis developed a frontal headache, sinus pressure and a mild cough three days after the church event, something the family assumed was a sinus infection.
The symptoms never went away, and by June 19, her parents noticed she looked “gray” while sleeping, according to the medical examiner’s report. The girl’s mother determined her oxygen levels were low.
According to the report, Carole Davis gave Carsyn oxygen from her grandfather’s portable oxygen tank, which he uses to treat his chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Before taking the girl to a hospital, her parents gave her an unspecified dose of hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial and lupus drug that gained attention from President Donald Trump as a possible means of treating the virus.
Though anecdotal studies of the drug have shown promise, many others concluded it may increase the chance of complications. The Food and Drug Administration warned the drug should not be used outside a hospital setting.
The hospital determined the girl was positive for COVID-19 and recommended a breathing tube, according to the medical examiner’s report.
The family decided against that, the report said, and asked that she receive plasma treatment. The girl’s condition deteriorated over the next two days, forcing the hospital to intubate her.
She was transferred to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami, where she died.