Rob and Heather Parsons are hoping the resolution to a lawsuit absolving them of any wrongdoing in the death of Fay Block will help clear their names. Courtesy photo

Maui resident Heather Parsons was never charged with a crime, but a civil lawsuit and a criminal investigation were enough to perhaps make some people question the circumstances behind Parsons’ caregiving of Fay A. Block in 2017 and where Parsons’ high-profile husband Rob might fit into the swirl of attention.

Years after the accusations surfaced, Rob and Heather Parsons have been exonerated and the accusers, a couple of Block family members, have recanted by saying they are unwilling to testify in any criminal proceedings against the Parsons.

“Through the course of this litigation, we have expanded our knowledge and the underlying facts and have come to better understand Mrs. Parsons’ friendship with our mother and sincere desire to help her,” said Block’s children Michael L. Adams and Jasmine Naomi Lee Goodell in a joint letter to the Maui County prosecutor’s office dated Aug. 5, 2024.

The letter notes that Goodell and Adams, who initially accused Parsons of wrongdoing, have reached an amicable settlement that includes the transfer of a Maui property formerly owned by Block and then by Heather Parsons to them.

“This case has been closed by our office and we have declined to file any charges,” Maui County Prosecutor Andrew Martin told The Maui News via email.

Block’s children filed the lawsuit after Block willed her home and her assets to Parsons before Block died on April 24, 2017. However, Heather Parsons said she was not present when Block willed the Maui property to her through an attorney.

Parsons said Block was the one who initiated contact with her to help in caregiving and emails show that Parsons met Block in 2015 and Block sought Parson’s services as a caregiver to be in charge of Block’s final moments.

Heather Parsons said she was never in favor of Block’s decision to voluntarily stop eating and drinking or her decision to die in general, and that Parson’s text messages to Block reflected that view.

The Parsons note that Block’s decisions to cease eating and drinking were made in consultation with a primary care physician, and thus she was approved for palliative care under the supervision of a hospice care facility on Maui.

The physician saw Block for her last checkup on April 12, 2017. In his treatment notes, the physician described Block’s pain as 10 out of 10 since her last visit and progressively increasing and can’t deal with the pain anymore.

The Parsons said that according to the doctor, Block fell into the category of many patients who no longer care to eat or drink due to the severity of their pain.

Heather Parsons said that despite her innocence and her husband Rob’s great reputation as a Maui environmentalist, internet searches still bring back old spurious accusations that were alleged against them.

She said she hopes people will see the case was amicably resolved with the allegations recanted.

“There was no subsequent substantiation of the numerous allegations made in the civil suit,” she said.

Rob Parsons was the environmental coordinator under Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa’s administration.

During his appointment, Parsons served as the liaison with the county working with various entities that started the Pump Don’t Dump program for Maalaea Harbor users and also helping in a land trust acquisition of 277 acres at Waihee coastal dunes, fishponds and wetlands for critical native wildlife habitat.

Parsons said after his work as environmental coordinator, he applied for several jobs and the people seemed very interested in hiring him, but for some reason, they never got back to him.

He said he’ll never know how the lawsuit might have influenced those interested in hiring him.