A 75-year-old mother from Indianapolis, Indiana, is facing criminal charges in a disturbing instance of neglect. She is accused of abandoning her adult daughter for an entire week on the floor, sandwiched between a bed and a wall, in the home. The victim is paralyzed, and the mother allegedly wanted her to “get up on her own.”
Two counts of neglect of a dependent leading to physical harm to Rose Chavis’s 40-year-old daughter led to her booking into Marion County jail on Thursday, according to records.
A probable cause affidavit states the victim was “diagnosed with Cerebral palsy, paralysis on the left side” and had “other physical/mental impairments” that deemed her a “endangered adult” according to the law. The victim fell out of bed in September and went unaided for an entire week, even though her mother and caregiver were supposedly “aware” of the fall.
The abuse allegedly occurred at a property on Lancashire Court, where the perpetrator and the victim were cohabitating, and an investigation was launched on September 13 following a complaint. According to the documents, the victim remained hospitalized for three days due to an infection that “would most likely require” her to be moved to a “rehabilitation facility.”.
Law enforcement claims the defendant said her daughter was “getting sicker and sicker” but that she had previously cautioned the victim “not to call the ambulance because of calling them too many times in the past.” According to the allegations, Chavis further stated her desire for the victim to “get up on her own.”
The accused allegedly provided the woman with food and drink while she lay on the floor, but he neglected to dial 911. According to the police, the victim used a coat hanger to access the gadget and dial 911 independently.
“Patients states she fell out of bed 7 days ago and was stuck between her bed and the wall since that time. She reports that her mother was afraid to touch her or call EMS but was providing her with some food/fluids as well as her medications,” the affidavit said. “She was able to reach her cell phone with a coat hanger and call 911.”
According to the records, medical staff saw “extreme skin sloughing with multiple wounds on the patient’s backside from her knee creases up to her mid back” and found maggots “in some of her wounds” when the victim was at the hospital.
“The patient reported pain of 7/10 from her legs,” the affidavit said.
Chavis’s court records reveal that she has been instructed not to contact the victim and that her planned court appearance is on Monday, October 7th. No defense attorney was listed as the official representative as of Friday in the docket.