CLAY COUNTY, Fla. — A man who falsely claimed to be a licensed practical nurse (LPN) and allegedly failed to provide critical care in the hours before a Fleming Island veteran’s death was arrested with his fiancé by US Marshals Monday, according to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office. 

Retired U.S. Marine Gunnery Sgt. Kensworth Moody, who required around-the-clock care and had a feeding tube and tracheotomy, died in October 2024 at his Fleming Island home while under the supervision of a man who police said falsely identified himself as an LPN. Home surveillance footage revealed the impostor failed to act when Moody showed signs of respiratory distress, according to state records.

Julien Williams and Alexiea Irwin were apprehended by US Marshals in Michigan and interviewed by Clay County detectives afterward. The two are facing 14 counts of practicing medicine without a license, one count of criminal use of personal identification information and another count of schemes to defraud. 

They are both awaiting extradition back to Florida. 

A Florida family is seeking answers after discovering their loved one’s caregiver, who claimed to be a licensed practical nurse (LPN), was an impostor who allegedly failed to provide critical care in the hours before the veteran’s death.

Retired U.S. Marine Gunnery Sgt. Kensworth Moody, who required around-the-clock care and had a feeding tube and tracheotomy, died in October 2024 at his Fleming Island home while under the supervision of a man who falsely identified himself as an LPN. Home surveillance footage revealed the impostor failed to act when Moody showed signs of respiratory distress, according to state records.

Moody’s daughter, Kendra Moody, says she awoke to loud music coming from her father’s room the morning of Oct. 13, 2024.

“I looked at the camera in his room before I came down here and I saw the nurse. He was looking at his pulse ox machine just with a confused look on his face,” Kendra Moody said. “When I got down here, I touched my dad, and he was freezing cold.”

She says surveillance videos she later reviewed showed her father started having trouble breathing and became unresponsive two hours earlier.

“He was gasping for air, and you can hear the pulse ox machine alarming and going off,” Kendra Moody said. “And then after that, you don’t hear it go off anymore, and you don’t see his chest rise or fall, and he just was unresponsive.” 

She says the man who claimed to be a nurse never called 911.

“I did,” Kendra Moody said. “He just completely didn’t do anything.” 

By the time paramedics arrived, it was too late. Her father was pronounced dead.

“For you to walk into a house and pretend that you’re a nurse to take care of somebody who’s sick. What do you expect to happen?” Kendra Moody said.

Sandra Moody, the veteran’s wife and a registered nurse, says the man hired to provide nursing care had been in her home more than a dozen times and worked for a BrightStar Care franchise in Jacksonville. She knew after her husband’s death the “nurse” wasn’t who he claimed to be.

“I knew because how he responded in the room,” Sandra Moody said. “Something came over me that he was not a nurse. So, after everything and my husband was taken out of the home, I started to look him up on Facebook. He didn’t show up on Facebook. His name showed up with another person’s face on Facebook. I felt invaded when I found out.”

A 60-page report by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, known as AHCA, includes a text message the nurse impersonator sent Sandra Moody hours after her husband died. He said, “I’m sorry Ms. Moody. I just wanted to show you I was capable…I let you down. I failed Mr. Moody and nothing I can do can bring him back. I just want to tell you I’m sorry I failed you.”

Records show the nurse impersonator who was using the name of a licensed practical nurse, Darez Whigham, had two active patients. We tracked down the real nurse whose name he was using.

“It was actually quite shocking,” Whigham said. “It’s scary for me as, you know, as a nurse and probably for other nurses too.”

Whigham says he briefly worked for BrightStar Care and found out from detectives someone was pretending to be him.

“The individual gave them my name and information saying they were me and that they were a licensed practical nurse,” Whigham said. “It was explained that they could have gotten it from an old file when I was working there.”

Eleven days after the veteran died, AHCA issued an emergency suspension order for Brightstar Care of East Jacksonville/Neptune Beach, an independently owned and operated franchise.

According to that order, the fake nurse silenced oxygen saturation monitor alarms and administered “sugar water” when Moody’s glucose levels dropped. The report states Moody’s oxygen levels fell to 36%, well below the normal range of 94-100%.

AHCA’s investigation uncovered multiple issues at the BrightStar franchise. 

According to the emergency suspension order, the customer coordinator had a warrant for her arrest for fraud and the director of nursing was facing criminal charges related to a shooting in Jacksonville. The order also says the home health company scheduled and provided care to an acutely ill patient by an unqualified, unlicensed individual who misrepresented his identity, the company billed for services not provided and placed “patient health, safety and welfare at immediate risk.”

We reached out to the head of the BrightStar franchise, Suresh Pandurangam. He hung up on us and did not return our call.

A spokesperson for the Brightstar Corporate team says safety and the well-being of clients is its top priority.

“We are aware of an investigation regarding an independently owned and operated franchisee in Jacksonville, FL and are working in cooperation with the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) and other relevant authorities regarding this franchised location. We have already exercised our right to terminate the local franchisee’s franchise agreement, and it is no longer a part of the BrightStar Care system,” the company said in a statement.

In Florida, impersonating a nurse or knowingly employing unlicensed persons in nursing practice is a felony. The Clay County Sheriff’s Office confirms there is an active investigation, but no arrests have been made. The agency declined our request for an interview.

Sandra Moody says she was connected to BrightStar through Veterans Affairs. A VA spokesperson says payments to the home health company were authorized through the VA. The VA declined an interview but said the franchise that operated that location is no longer a part of the VA’s community care network.

“VA does not provide recommendations for home health agencies. We use an online system to identify in-network providers located near the Veteran and ask if the Veteran has any specific preferences,” Jason Dangel, the deputy manager of the Office of Communication and Stakeholder Relations wrote. “BrightStar was removed from the VA’s community care network on October 31, 2024, after the department was notified that the state of Florida had suspended the organization’s license to operate.”

The Moodys wonder if this fake nurse was in other family’s homes caring for patients who still don’t know he wasn’t who he claimed to be.

“I need that this never happens to any veteran,” Sandra Moody said. “If I wasn’t a nurse and we weren’t smart enough to look at this or that then we would have gone and said, oh, his health failed.”

They don’t understand why no one has been arrested.

“I just want justice for my husband’s death because I know he depended on me to be his voice and I felt like I was robbed of that,” Sandra Moody said.

If you have a news tip for our investigative team, email hcrawford2@firstcoastnews.com