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Cocoa man charged with manslaughter for 2022 death of disabled wife under his care

By Charles Frazier, WFTV.com

Crime scen (Nick Papantonis)

By Charles Frazier, WFTV.com

COCOA, Fla. — A Cocoa man was arrested over the weekend, accused of “gross negligence” leading to the death of his disabled wife.

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63-year-old Robert Bradford was booked into the Brevard County jail Sunday on charges that include manslaughter of an elderly or disabled person.

The investigation began back in January of 2022 with an anonymous call for a medical emergency at Bradford’s home on Boardwalk Lane.

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Cocoa police officers later responded to Rockledge Regional Medical Center to interview the patient, identified as Bradford’s wife, Robin Grogan, but she was unable to communicate with them because of her condition.

According to an incident report, the responding officers noted that Grogan also appeared to be extremely underweight.

Despite 12 days of medical care, Grogan died at the hospital from “various medical conditions,” the report states.

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After months of digging into the couple’s relationship and finances, investigators determined Bradford was Grogan’s primary caretaker and was the sole payee of her disability payments, but he couldn’t say when Grogan last received medical care or how much, if any of the payments went to her treatment.

Cocoa man charged with manslaughter for 2022 death of disabled wife under his care Robert Bradford, 63, charged with neglect of a disabled person and aggravated manslaughter by causing death by culpable negligence.

A report from the Brevard County Medical Examiner’s Office stated Grogan died of complications from malnutrition and a severe infection due to “gross negligence.”

Investigators noted that any reasonable person should have seen that Grogan was in need of immediate medical treatment, but the initial call for help was made by an anonymous woman rather than Bradford himself, her primary caretaker.

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Bradford remains in the Brevard County jail on more than $100,000 bond.

He’s scheduled for a court appearance in August.

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