Hi Everyone,

My mom (Patricia) and I (Therese) are doing this as a last step of justice for our sweet, sweet boy. The GoFundMe is to raise money for a private autopsy for my brother Joseph Munie.

On Thursday evening (4/2/26), Joey suddenly passed away in his group home. The group home and law enforcement involved are withholding information from my mom and me regarding what happened to Joey that night. They are stating we have to wait about 2 weeks to receive any type of report with details on what happened that night. The only information staff has released to us is that Joey had a normal day and nothing was out of his routine, and as he was doing hygiene for the night, he was found unconscious while toileting in the bathroom.

Joseph was 33 years old, and while he was born with health issues and a cleft lip and palate, all of his recent and past medical history DOES NOT indicate such a sudden and early death, especially having such a normal day. Joey is nonverbal, so he communicates through slight gestures and vocal expressions, which is another reason we are concerned. Joseph also requires constant redirection and support throughout the day, as well as supervision.

The night of the incident, the medical examiner and his PCP reviewed his medical history and deemed his death as one of his medical issues, but in this case, they do not know which one because they will not perform an autopsy since there was no foul play at the scene. We tried requesting one, and they told us no and sent us out the door unless we were paying out of pocket for one. :(

All of his family support and DDD support believe an autopsy needs to be done before we lay him to rest to find out the exact cause of death. As well, crossing all of our T’s to make sure there weren't any medication errors, that he didn’t hit his head and no one noticed, potential choking from dinner prior to hygiene, an asthma attack and needed his inhaler, everything under the sun since he was in a group home and we literally have no idea what happened because of the withheld information from both parties.

My mother (Patricia) is also disabled and does not have the funds at all to pay out-of-pocket for a private autopsy. I have been helping my mom advocate through this very hard process and it is very time-sensitive. We just want to do right by our sweet Joey because it doesn’t make sense, and as a family, we just don’t feel right letting this all be swept under the rug. As a family, we deserve answers, and Joey deserves to be laid to rest peacefully.

** We as a family feel like they are treating this case as a projection of a person who has medical issues and disabilities, and that's just simply how he passed away. While that may be true in the end, we deserve to know his exact cause of death and not be deemed as unknown health issues because what if that isn’t the case.

My mother and I are extremely grateful for any donation to help get justice for my brother Joey. Even if you cannot donate, please share our story.

Thank you,

Patricia and Therese