Three Kenyans - a husband, wife and their daughter - were charged with criminal mistreatment on Friday in Puyallup, Washington after a 95-year-old woman fell inside an adult family home they own.
Prosecutors say the woman, Betty Torrey, feel inside the home in November and died in the hospital 11 days later. Puyallup police say video footage shows Torrey fell and cried for help and caregivers responded, but that they left her on the floor unattended for several hours until morning when someone called 911.
Charging documents have identified the three caregivers as Patrick Cubi Mbiri, his wife Lilian Wambui Cubi, and their daughter Santana Wangui Cubi, according to Patch.com. The incident happened at Able Care, a group home that is owned by the family.
Detectives say from the video footage, Torrey fell at 4am on November 13th, and that Lilian was seen entering the room and scolding her to get back to bed. Torrey asked for help again and Lilian and Santana responded to the call. A few minutes later, prosecutors say Torrey called for help yet again and fell out of bed, at which point Patrick entered the room “and slapped Torrey's hand as she was grabbing at the curtains, trying to get up. Prosecutors said Mbiri did not attempt to help, despite repeated requests for a doctor,” according to Patch.com.
Prosecutors say Torrey, who suffered dementia, said her leg was broken and she needed to see a doctor, but that her request was ignored. It was not until 7am that paramedics were called to help get her to bed, but that the defendants did not mention Torrey had fallen out of bed, instead saying she has a light “assisted fall.”
“The co-defendants did not mention that she had fallen out of bed at 4:30 a.m. and instead reported that she had a light assisted fall (which is contradicted by the video footage)… At the time, likely due to dementia — Torrey did not indicate any concerns to the EMTs that her leg was broken — even though she repeated(ly) verbalized that a few hours earlier,” ” the probable cause statement said.
At a cardiologist appointment later that day, the doctor noticed Torrey had a swollen leg and unable to bear any weight on it. She was admitted to Good Samaritan Hospital with a complex femur fracture and died 11 days later due to complications from the injury.
Prosecutors say Torrey’s fall was only discovered after Torrey’s granddaughter learned from Torrey’s roommate at the group home informed her that Torrey had fallen. Shen then reviewed the video footage and called police.
Patrick, Lillian and Santana have all been charged with second-degree criminal mistreatment in Pierce County Superior Court. Patrick faces an additional charge of fourth-degree assault. Pierce County Superior Court Commissioner Craig Adams ordered them each held in lieu of $75,000 bail. Lillian was said to be out of the country last week, and authorities said they would seek a warrant for her arrest.
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