NYC Woman Says She Mistakenly Took Stranger Off Life Support

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A New York City woman sat vigil for days at her dying brother's hospital bedside, authorized doctors to stop life support and was arranging his funeral when officials revealed it had all been a big mistake. The man wasn't her brother at all, but a stranger with a similar name.

Shirell Powell is now suing a Bronx hospital over the case of mistaken identity, saying she and other relatives were put through more than a month of unnecessary grief.

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Her actual brother, Frederick Williams, was alive, but unbeknownst to his family, he was locked up in a city jail.

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The hospital looked in its records, saw that a Frederick Williams had been treated before, and called his family, the suit said. But it was the wrong Fred Williams.

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Powell authorized doctors to withdraw life support on July 29. The city's medical examiner discovered the erroneous identification Aug. 16.

“I nearly fainted because I killed somebody that I didn't even know. I gave consent," said Powell.

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