Regla “Su” Becquer, the operator behind a web of unlicensed Tarrant County boarding homes tied to 20 client deaths, was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Tuesday after pleading guilty to criminally negligent homicide. The sentence closes out a case that began with a resident’s plea for help and comes amid broader efforts to regulate care for vulnerable adults in Texas.
Becquer pleaded guilty following a months-long investigation that spanned multiple jurisdictions, according to WFAA. She operated Love & Caring for People LLC, an unlicensed company that claimed to provide supervised personal care for adults in need at five homes across the county, according to court documents cited by CBS Texas. Authorities determined the company had abused and neglected clients while also committing fraud, the outlet reported.
The case first broke open in February 2024, when Becquer was arrested and charged with abandoning and endangering a resident. Arlington police found the resident inside the Woodbrook Street home after the resident pleaded for help and a neighbor called 911.
A Death Upgrades the Case to Murder
Four months later, in June 2024, Arlington police upgraded the charges against Becquer to murder. The move came after the Tarrant County Medical Examiner ruled that the January 12, 2024 death of 60-year-old Steven “Kelly” Pankratz was a homicide, caused by mixed toxicity from unprescribed painkillers and antidepressants, according to the City of Arlington. Pankratz had been living at Becquer’s Lake Whitney Drive facility when first responders found him unresponsive, the city said…