CINCINNATI (AP) — An Ohio mother and three nurses were charged Thursday with involuntary manslaughter in the death of the woman's 14-year-old daughter, who had cerebral palsy and weighed 28 pounds, a prosecutor said.
A Montgomery County grand jury in Dayton indicted the four women on Thursday. All are being held in the county jail.
"This is a tragic and sad case wherein four adults were responsible for the care of this 14-year-old special-needs girl, and they all utterly ignored and failed to do so." Montgomery County Prosecutor Mathias Heck Jr. said in a statement.
"The conduct of these four defendants transcends all bounds of human decency," he said.
Heck said that the girl undoubtedly would still be alive "if just one of these defendants had acted responsibly."
Makayla Norman died March 1 from nutritional and medical neglect complicated by her chronic condition, the county coroner's office ruled.
"She was the worst malnourished child this office has ever seen," Ken Betz, director of the coroner's office, said Thursday.
Authorities have said that the teen died minutes after paramedics rushed her to a hospital.
The victim had numerous bed sores and showed other signs of neglect, and the prosecutor described the home as vile and filthy.
The girl's mother, Angela Norman, also was indicted on a felony count and a misdemeanor count of endangering children. No attorney was listed for Norman, whose age was listed as 42 in jail records.
Mollie E. Parsons, 41, of Dayton, was indicted on charges of involuntary manslaughter, failing to provide for a functionally impaired person and tampering with records. Kathryn Williams, 42, of Englewood, and Mary K. Kilby, 63, of Miamisburg, were each charged with failing to provide for a functionally impaired person and failing to report child abuse or neglect. No attorneys were listed for them.
The teen was confined to her home and was supposed to be cared for by her mother and Parsons, a licensed practical nurse whose job was to administer care for the girl six days a week, according to the prosecutor.
Williams and Kilby are registered nurses, the prosecutor's office said. Williams was paid to supervise Parsons and visit and inspect the living conditions and do a physical assessment of the girl every 30 to 60 days. Kilby was scheduled to visit every six months to also check on conditions of the home and assess the girl's health, needs and care, the statement said.
Children's services had a referral on the family in September 2009, but was unable to substantiate any allegations, Ann Stevens, a spokeswoman for the Montgomery County Department of Job and Family Services said Thursday.
Stevens said she could not provide any additional information because of confidentiality requirements, but she said that the department would have assisted the police and the prosecutor's office in their investigation of the girl's death. •
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Login with Facebook Idaho man charged with trying to assassinate Obama
By JESSICA GRESKO and JESSIE L. BONNER | AP – 4 hrs agoBOISE, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho man accused of firing an assault rifle at the White House thought President Barack Obama was the Antichrist, according to court documents and those who knew him. At one point, he even suggested to an acquaintance the president was planning to implant computer tracking chips into children.
Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez, 21, was charged Thursday with attempting to assassinate the president or his staff. He is accused of firing nine rounds at the White House last Friday night — one of them cracking a window of the first family's living quarters — when Obama and the first lady were away. If convicted, Ortega faces up to life in prison.
Ortega was arrested Wednesday at a western Pennsylvania hotel when a desk clerk there recognized him and called police.
Ortega's public defender, Christopher Brown, declined comment after his first court hearing in Pennsylvania. Ortega's mother has said he has no history of mental illness, though when authorities were looking for him, they reported he had "mental health issues."
In Idaho Falls, where Ortega is from, a computer consultant told The Associated Press that the two met July 8 after Ortega asked for help editing a 30-minute infomercial. Monte McCall said that during the meeting at Ortega's family's Mexican restaurant, Ortega pulled out worn sheets of yellow paper with handwritten notes and started to talk about his predictions that the world would end in 2012.
"He said, 'Well, you know the president is getting ready to make an announcement that they're going to put GPS chips in all the children, so they're safe,'" McCall said. "... And then he said, 'That's just what the Antichrist is going to do to mark everybody.'"
Kimberly Allen, the mother of Ortega's former fiancee, said he had been well-mannered and kind in the four years she had known him. But he recently began making statements to her daughter that were out of character, including that he believed he was Jesus. Allen said the family was worried when he went to Utah recently, where he said he had business, and didn't come back. Ortega's family reported him missing Oct. 31.
Allen said they were flabbergasted to hear he was wanted in Washington.
"I believe that the boy needs help," said Allen, of Shelley, Idaho.
Her daughter, Jessica Galbraith, was engaged to Ortega and is the mother of their 2-year-old son. She declined to comment Thursday except to say: "I love him, and I'm here for him."
It was unclear why or when they split.
Reached by the AP on Thursday, Ortega's mother said she didn't have anything to say. She earlier told the Post Register in Idaho Falls her son has no history of mental illness.
"He has different ideas than other people, just like everyone, but he was perfectly fine the last time I saw him," Maria Hernandez told the newspaper. "He might be saying weird stuff that sounds crazy, but that doesn't mean (he) is crazy. He might be confused and scared."
At his first appearance in court in Pennsylvania, Ortega sat quietly, his hands free but his feet shackled. He said only, "Yes, ma'am" when he was asked if he understood that he would be going back to Washington to face the charge.
According to a court document released after the hearing, authorities recovered nine spent shell casings from Ortega's car, which was found abandoned near the White House shortly after the shooting. An assault rifle with a scope was found inside.
A person who knows him subsequently told investigators that he had become increasingly agitated with the federal government and was convinced it was conspiring against him, the document said. Others told investigators that Ortega had reportedly said Obama was the Antichrist and the "devil." Ortega also apparently said he "needed to kill" the president.
Authorities said Ortega was clad in black when he pulled his car within view of the White House on Friday night, fired shots and then sped away. The White House has not said whether the Obamas' daughters, Sasha and Malia, were there at the time or commented on the shooting.
Ortega was questioned by police on Friday morning, before the shootings, just across the Potomac River from Washington in Arlington, Va. Police said they stopped him after a report of suspicious behavior, but let him go after photographing him because they had no reason to make an arrest.
Ortega has an arrest record in three states but has not been linked to any radical organizations, U.S. Park Police have said.
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Take care friends! -Missygirl*
