Heckler said no decision on charges was likely before next week. Other possible charges include reckless endangerment of another person or neglect of a care-dependent person.
"I believe that someone who takes on the responsibility of caring - typically it's for another person's child, in this case, for a care-dependent adult - should be held to a high standard for how that care is provided," Heckler said.
In Montgomery County, a criminal investigation into the deaths of three men from the searing weather is in its early stages, First Assistant District Attorney Kevin R. Steele said. He would not discuss which charges might apply.
Jerry Snavely, 62, and his friend John Malkasian, 53, were found dead by a landlord July 9 in Snavely's Norristown apartment. Both died of hyperthermia in the stifling apartment, which the landlord and a neighbor said always had closed windows.
Malkasian was found in one bedroom, lying on the floor with several soda bottles at his feet, according to the police report. Snavely was in the rear bedroom in a kneeling position, his head resting between the bed and end table. The temperature in the apartment when they were found was 110 degrees.
Both men received services from the county's Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. Agency administrator Eric Goldstein has declined to discuss what care they received, citing confidentiality rules.
During two county-declared "code red" periods of extreme summer heat, Goldstein said, his office alerted agency staff and contractors to make sure clients were safe. He said 500 patients had been contacted out of 4,000 served by the agency. He did not know if both men had been contacted.
A third Montgomery County man who died from the heat, John Snyder, 56, of Pennsburg, was also believed to be receiving mental-health treatment before his death was discovered July 12, coroner Walter Hofman said.
