In February 2025, I was wrongly charged with murder. Now, I'm fighting for justice for what happened to me and my mom while working to pass a law to protect families who rely on hospice care

In July 2023, I was called by my mom's home hospice provider and told I needed to get down to Georgia (from where I live in NYC) immediately. My mom, who had Alzheimer's and end-stage cancer had been found doubled over, non-responsive with an oxygen saturation in the 70s and blackening fingers and toes. She had been declared “actively dying” by hospice staff and had "hours to days" to live.

My husband and I got there as quickly as we could, grabbed our hospice-prescribed comfort kit, and set up a bed in her room at the assisted living facility that she had moved into several months after going on hospice.

After three days with no responsiveness to anything but a pained face as she was turned and no food or fluids, my mom began to experience severe breathing difficulties.

Despite my repeated requests for morphine to help ease her pain, the hospice company did not prescribe a comfort kit or morphine to the assisted living facility itself. This led us to rely on my mom's comfort care kit and hospice instructions via phone. Sadly, this did nothing to alleviate her distress and she died, still gasping for air.

While reeling from the trauma of watching her die in so much distress, staff reported her death as suspicious. Despite this added trauma, we believed this misunderstanding would soon be cleared up. We assumed this because, not only were there many witnesses to her rapidly declining condition, but also because she had a valid comfort kit prescription that we'd used in accordance with our training and her "actively dying" status prior to our arrival was well documented.

Sadly, we were wrong.

In February of this year, I was charged with two counts of murder in the state of Georgia: Felony murder and malice murder, both of which carry the possibility of the death penalty.

Luckily, I had collected ample evidence showing that I had acted in good faith, much of this evidence didn't seem to have been available to the medical examiner or district attorney during the course of the criminal investigation. This evidence included eyewitness testimonies to her death and the days leading up to it, videos and photos of her condition (I'd been planning possible legal action so I was documenting everything), proof of her prescribed morphine, phone and text records, as well as hospice records that showed she had been declared "actively dying" and that I was called down from NYC to be with her.

With this new information, the medical examiner updated her cause of death and it was no longer rules a homicide. The DA then dropped all charges in August and I was released from bond.

Though I was cleared, the experience shattered my life. I lost my career, my life savings (and my husband's), my family, and my reputation while grieving my mom's death and fighting for my own life.

So now, even as I fight to restore my reputation, I'm also working to do everything in my power to make sure that what happened to me NEVER happens to anyone else ever again.

Every year, MILLIONS of American families are prescribed and instructed to use comfort kits with their dying loved ones. These comfort kits typically contain controlled substances like sublingual morphine, lorazepam, and other medications meant to ease distress at end of life.

But although caregivers are expected to medicate their loved ones using these “comfort kits," there are no legal protections that help shield them from criminal allegations once their loved one passes away.

In fact, depending on the hospice company, there is often little to no documentation showing that family members -- who are not trained medical professionals -- are authorized to give their loved ones these medications at all. As a result, law enforcement, medical examiners, and district attorneys who are unfamiliar with hospice practices may think that family members who give their loved one morphine are committing a crime, as appears to have been assumed with me.

This is why I'm proposing Marsha's Law.

Marsha's Law would mandate that, as soon as families are prescribed a comfort kit, hospice must document and confirm, in writing, that the kit is for the family to use in accordance with their training/guidelines.

The law would also require that family members be given a copy of this documentation to be kept with their comfort kit so that, in the event of an investigation or search warrant, law enforcement could see that the family had been officially authorized to administer these comfort medications to their loved ones.

Why does this need a fundraiser?

Building a national advocacy platform takes an enormous amount of time and resources. In addition to hiring publicists to help raise awareness of the issue and build nationwide momentum, it also requires a great deal of travel to network with partner organizations as well as to state and federal legislatures to get the proposed law on the ballot.

How will the money I donate be used?

ALL funds will go directly to support the campaign for Marsha's law. This includes:

$5800/month for the media outreach needed to raise awareness of what happened to my mom and me and to create public pressure and momentum for Marsha's Law.

$800-$2000/month (variable) in travel costs to state and federal legislatures to lobby for Marsha's Law.

Why can't you work and pay for this yourself?

It's hard to comprehend how life-shattering a murder charge is, even once cleared. For one, Georgia only restricts records, it doesn't seal them, so my charges still show up on most types of background checks. In addition, the headlines still brand me a murderer, which makes getting (or keeping) a job almost impossible even with a fully restricted record.

What about life insurance?

My mom's federal policy, when it paid out after I was cleared, was not even enough to cover 1/3 of my nonrefundable legal and bond fees, which not only took our savings, but drove us into debt.

What about lawsuits?

Though I'm currently exploring all legal avenues for justice, the process is very long and complex, with resolution often taking up to 5 years.

What about these podcasts and media appearances? Aren't you getting paid?

Not a dime. In fact, I'm paying professionals to help connect me to these opportunities in order to raise awareness of what happened and to build the platform for Marsha's Law.

If you lost so much, then why are you willing to spend more on this campaign?

Because I have to sleep at night. And I can't rest knowing that, if this happened to me, then it WILL happen to someone else. And that person may not have the same savings, network, education, or understanding of the criminal legal system to avoid losing their freedom or even their lives.

Though I've been shattered emotionally, financially, and professionally, I feel obligated to use my privilege to do all I can to prevent this from ever happening to another person. This is my duty to my community and to the millions or caregivers who rely on home hospice every single day.

Most of all, it's how my mom raised me. And I owe it to my mom and her memory to live up to the principles she instilled in me.

No child, sibling, spouse, or other caregiver should ever have to face criminal charges simply for providing legally prescribed comfort care to their dying loved one. With your help, we can ensure that millions of people who rely on hospice are protected while acting in good faith as caregivers to their dying loved ones.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for helping me channel this tragedy into a force for lasting change.

— Rachel Waters