‘Florida’s apex guardian predator’

Fierle’s case in connection with Stryker’s death went to trial in August and saw hospital staff and Stryker’s daughter testify.

Multiple witnesses told jurors Stryker had a clear wish to live and continue his treatment that was denied by Fierle, who made decisions she said would preserve his quality of life rather than prolong it.

Some healthcare workers said Fierle’s decision to cap his feeding tube in an attempt to get him accepted in an assistant living facility had no medical benefit and posed a risk of choking and death.

Stryker had a history of dementia and suffered from multiple conditions including one that required him to use a feeding tube. He was also a registered sex offender, which in combination with his feeding tube had made placement in an assisted living facility difficult, hospital staff told jurors.

Fierle was appointed as Stryker’s guardian in 2018 while he was being treated in AdventHealth Orlando. Under her care, Stryker stayed in multiple hospitals and assisted living facilities. In April 2019, he was admitted to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa where he later died.

Stryker’s daughter, Kim, said she fought for Fierle to step down as his guardian in the weeks leading up to his death. Eventually, Fierle agreed, but when Kim called her father to tell him, hospital staff informed her that he had died.

And though investigators said Fierle’s DNR prevented St. Joseph staffers from performing lifesaving measures for Stryker, a judge ruled to exclude it from the trial. Fierle’s attorneys argued the DNR did not cause treatment to be withheld from Stryker.

After deliberating for more than 12 hours, the six-person jury remained in a deadlock and a mistrial was eventually declared.

The case was slated for a re-trial in March, but last month Ward canceled it citing a “possible plea resolution,” court records said.

Fierle’s sentencing date is scheduled for the afternoon of March 23.

Dr. Sam Sugar, an internal medicine specialist who became an activist after his mother-in-law became a ward of the state, called Fierle “Florida’s apex guardian predator” and said “whatever sentence she gets is not enough.”

“Despite this event, which is long overdue, Florida’s guardianship system continues to be just as susceptible to corruption as it ever was,” he said. “Whatever amount of prison time [Fierle] ends up serving, it will never be adequate to compensate the incredible number of people she has harmed over the years.”