Authorities accused a Colorado healthcare worker of elder abuse in connection with injuries sustained by a 92-year-old lady with “severe dementia,” and one more is scheduled to be imprisoned.
According to the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office, Patience Jackson, 33, was taken into custody at her residence on Wednesday.
She faces felony charges of collaboration, criminal negligence, and offences against an at-risk individual. Since she was in Miami, the other suspect, Zainab Namale, had an arrest warrant issued against her and was given a 24-hour window to surrender.
The inquiry started on May 9 when a sheriff’s office deputy known as “Investigator VanCleave” showed up at Sky Ridge Medical Centre in response to a claim of elder abuse involving the victim, who was 92 years old.
The woman had two different fractures in her lower leg, one in her calf and one in her shin, which alarmed hospital staff, according to the sheriff’s office.
According to reports, the woman was taken from the Orchard Park Health Care Centre, which is roughly eight miles distant, to the hospital the day before.
The victim’s injuries, however, “were not consistent” with those detailed in the rehab center’s report, the hospital staff informed the investigator.
The woman was discovered seated in her wheelchair “screaming for help in terrible pain,” according to the report, and no one had witnessed her fall, according to the sheriff’s office. Several centre staff members tried to explain how the injury happened.
According to an affidavit from Jackson, a certified nursing assistant, and Namale, a licensed practical nurse, the woman was hurt while seated in her wheelchair.
The victim was hurt while being transferred from the wheelchair to her bed, according to the center’s nursing director. Other staff members said the woman had a tendency to “plant her feet” while being assisted, which may have resulted in a twisting action and the fractures.
Read Also: Officials: Texas Man Secretly Gave Girlfriend Plan C to Terminate Pregnancy
The hospital personnel was not convinced.
According to reports, a surgeon stated that the injury was a “clean break” in two places, which could not have happened while she was in a wheelchair, rather than a spiral fracture, as the rehab centre staff had suggested.
The investigator concluded that Jackson and Namale were “probably lying” about the woman’s injuries as the investigation went on. They “were complicit in their actions to hide the truth of what happened to the victim,” he added.
Jackson posted a $2,500 bond and was sent to the Arapahoe County Detention Centre. Namale may still be wanted or may have been arrested by Thursday. The inquiry is still ongoing, the sheriff’s office added.
