Oregon Woman Dies From Hypothermia After Apartment Evicts Her For $338

A sad story coming from our neighboring state of Oregon where Karen Lee Batts died from the elements just three weeks after her apartment building evicted her.  The official write up for the eviction states the reasoning was for $338 of unpaid rent plus a $5 late fee.

Batts resided at the Oak Apartments in the Portland, Oregon area for over 10 years and was regarded as a great tenant up until the past six months or so.  The Oak Apartments are designed to help seniors and people with disabilities.  It's a low-income apartment complex.

Oak Apartments states that Batts started acting strangely over the past six months.  Erratic behavior and complaints came filing in about Batts damaging property and threatening neighbors.

According to orgeonlive.com Batts did not show up to her court hearing about her eviction notice.  The judge ruled against her and she was immediately locked out with nowhere to go.  She did have the opportunity to grab some clothes and personal items under the supervision of the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office and she told them she had somewhere to stay.  She then showed up in court on December 27, 2017 for a $175 ticket she received for falling asleep on the TriMet Max Yellow Line Train and not paying her fare.  The address she gave to the courts was a homeless shelter where mail could be sent and delivered.

Two weeks later police received a call about some woman stripping her clothes off in the park.  Taking your clothes off is one of the early signs of hypothermia.  The mind plays tricks on your body and tells it your hot instead of cold.  Batts was dead by the time police arrived.  This 52-year-old woman fell through the cracks somehow in a system that is flawed.  A system that needs to sometimes think with their heart and use some kind of sense of humanity.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to Batts, those that knew her, and those that suffer with homelessness on a daily basis.