A caregiver has been caught viciously beating a 93-year-old dementia patient with a soiled diaper before trying to choke her out in horrific footage released by police.
Dontia Shawnra Arrington, 26, has been charged for allegedly assaulting the vulnerable patient at Landings of Genesee Valley in Flint, Michigan on April 4.
The attack was caught on nanny cam, which was placed in the victim's room after her daughter noticed 'handprint bruises' on her mother as far back as December.
'I'm watching and all I kept saying was, 'My mom,' you know? 'Why are you doing this to my mom?' She's 93, 5-foot tall, a little 130-pound lady,' she told a press conference where the video was shown. 'Horrified. Just horrified.'
Footage shows Arrington repeatedly smashing a full diaper over the victim's head while she sits helplessly in her wheelchair and raises her arms in defense.
She then attempts to choke the woman in the bathroom. The footage later cuts to the bedroom, where Arrington slaps the lady in the mouth while still wearing her hygiene gloves.
Arrington raises her fists and appears to threaten the patient as she towers above her wheelchair. The elderly woman is clearly distressed.
The victim's daughter grew emotional as the video was shown at a press conference also attended by Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson and Prosecutor David Leyton.
She said that her family planted the nanny cam to get to the bottom of why her mother had been suffering bruises, and it took a few attempts to catch the abuse.
The cameras also caught staff stealing from her mother, who has been a patient at the facility for around five years.
She added that her mother has since been moved to a different assisted living facility and is getting better but still feels traumatized by the incident.
Sheriff Swanson told the press conference the patient had been diagnosed with 'severe dementia'.
'[The victim] has no idea what's going on,' he said. 'She can't process what we process on a regular basis.'
'You see the vulnerability of the victim and the fact that she's getting hit with a two-to-three-pound soiled diaper,' he added as the horrific footage was shown.
'But if that isn't enough, when she brought her hand across her throat in a chokehold, that can kill people, especially a 93-year-old.'
Prosecutor Leyton said he was 'appalled, disgusted and very angry' after seeing what had unfolded in the care home where elders should have been protected.
'I said to Chief Assistant Phillips, 'We're going to have to charge this woman as harshly as we can,' he told the press conference.
Leyton said Arrington has been charged with torture with intent to cause cruel or extreme physical or mental pain and suffering, which carries a sentence of serving up to life in prison.
She is also accused of vulnerable adult abuse, which is punishable by up to 15 years in prison, and assault with intent to cause great bodily harm less than murder or by strangulation, with carries a maximum penalty of 10 years.
Swanson said Arrington does not have a violent history and her only previous brush with the law was for alleged minor shoplifting offences.
In case you haven't seen this story
ReplyDeletehttps://www.foxnews.com/us/columbia-rabbi-tells-jewish-students-leave-campus-warns-school-nypd-cannot-guarantee-your-safety
CNN lead story
"The Orthodox rabbi at Columbia University and Barnard College sent a message recommending Jewish students leave campus and go home, as anti-Israel agitators have continued an "encampment" on campus and participants were caught on camera espousing full-on support for terrorism and supporting violence towards Jewish students.
In a WhatsApp message sent to hundreds before the start of Passover, Rabbi Elie Buechler, director of OU-LJIC at Columbia/Barnard, told students to leave "as soon as possible" until the situation improves, noting that "what we are witnessing in and around campus is terrible and tragic."
"The events of the last few days, especially last night, have made it clear that Columbia University’s Public Safety and the NYPD cannot guarantee Jewish students’ safety in the face of extreme antisemitism and anarchy," Buechler wrote. "It deeply pains me to say that I would strongly recommend you return home as soon as possible and remain home until the reality in and around campus has dramatically improved."