FPL, NCH, Collier EMS try to collect from estate of slain Damas family

Photos from the funeral program of Guerline Dieu Damas and her five children - Meshach, 9, Maven, 6, Marven, 5, Megan, 3, and Morgan 19 months.

Photo by LEXEY SWALL

Guerline Damas, and her five children, Michzach, 9; Marven, 6; Maven, 5; Megan, 3; and Morgan, 11 months old, were found dead inside their home at 864 Hampton Cir. in the Stratford Place community in North Naples, Fla. Mesac Damas, 33, the father and "person of interest," is believed to be in Haiti following a Friday morning flight. Lexey Swall/Staff

NAPLES — When Mesac Damas fled to Haiti, leaving the bloody bodies of his wife and five children in their North Naples apartment, he left a pile of unpaid bills in his car at the airport.

Seven months later, 33-year-old Damas is in the Collier County jail awaiting trial on six counts of murder as his case wends its way through court. Damas, who confessed he killed them, faces the death penalty if convicted.

But in a separate Collier circuit court case, the bills he left are part of the probate case of his wife, Guerline Dieu Damas.

Among those trying to collect from her estate: Collier County EMS and the Collier County Commission, the NCH Healthcare System and Florida Power & Light.

The 32-year-old woman and her children — Meshach “Zack,” 9; Marven, 6; Maven, 5; Megan, 3; and Morgan, 19 months — were found stabbed in the couple’s Stratford Place apartment on Sept. 17.

“I’m shocked,” Collier Commissioner Donna Fiala said when she learned the county was seeking money from the slain woman’s estate.

“Given that EMS is a public agency funded (in part) by tax dollars, it doesn’t have the discretion to pick and choose which unpaid bills it will attempt to collect,” county government spokesman John Torré said.

In 2008, commissioners passed a resolution allowing EMS to go after debts through probate cases, but giving the county manager the ability to waive rates if an estate has nominal or no assets.

FPL also has a similar policy. After a story about the case was posted at naplesnews.com, FPL spokeswoman Jackie Anderson contacted the Daily News and said the utility company had contacted the estate about the unpaid bills.

"In cases where the family does express a hardship, we do reach out to them and we do make exceptions," Anderson said. "... This particular case is clearly a special situation, and our thoughts and prayers go out to the family that has suffered this terrible loss. We have reached out to the family's representative to discuss their extenuating circumstances."

It’s unknown how much the estate has, or whether it can pay the debts.

Publix spokeswoman Shannon Patten said the retailer cannot comment on whether Guerline Damas, a 13-year employee, had a life insurance policy.

But once her estate pays off those bills, if it isn’t insolvent, her mother, 53-year-old Thelicia Medor of Fort Myers, will get what’s left over.

Probate cases are public and required under Florida law, unless the person who died set up a living trust. Despite probate cases being public, what’s in her estate may never be detailed — only the bills that were sent in.

When someone dies intestate, without a will, a legal notice is published in a newspaper alerting creditors to the death and giving them three months to submit unpaid bills.

A legal ad about Guerline Damas’ death was first published April 9, then again on April 16. Creditors have until July 9 to submit “statements of claims.”

FPL was the first to submit two, one for $67.48 and another for $45.96.

NCH Health Care System submitted one statement of claims listing three separate bills. Two match baby Morgan’s birth on Feb. 9, 2008, and Guerline’s care a day earlier: $1,902.15 and $1,515.46. Another was a $150 bill from April 28, 2009. The Daily News attempted to get a comment from a legal affairs coordinator and also another representative of NCH.

Collier County EMS and the County Commission submitted two bills, one for $755 that matches the birth of Megan on March 21, 2006, and another $654.42 bill for service on Oct. 3, 2008.

Florida’s probate laws have evolved since they were first set in 1845, but their aim has remained the same: To tie up the affairs of a decedent and ensure assets pass to the right heirs.

Damas’ brother, Edson Dieu, is the personal representative of her estate. Neither he nor his lawyer, Carl Westman of Naples, the estate’s agent, could be reached for comment. Other relatives also couldn’t be reached.

Once Westman reviews which are valid claims against the estate, he will determine if he wants to contest any. A creditor then would have to sue to recoup the debt. If there aren’t enough assets in the estate to pay debts, the estate is insolvent.

Under Florida probate law, Westman must pay expenses in a certain order, which are listed as eight classes. The costs and expenses of the administration, compensation of the personal representative, Dieu, and Westman’s fees fall under Class 1.

The next class is reasonable funeral, interment and grave marker expenses, but the state’s Crime Victim Compensation Program — which receives $50 for every convict sentenced statewide — paid $36,000 for the caskets and Oct. 3 funeral, the maximum of $6,000 per person.

Reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses are Class 4, but those involve a person’s last 60 days. The Damas bills appear to fall under the last class, claims not cited in the other classes.