Prosecutors: "worst case of elder abuse" they've ever seen
UTICA - Veteran county prosecutors are calling it the worst case of elder abuse or neglect that they have ever seen.
David Auchmoody faces three felony charges in the death earlier this year of his 89-year-old mother, Edith Auchmoody.
David Auchmoody was only in Oneida County court for about a minute Friday morning. He wasn't arraigned and didn't enter a plea to the charges he faces with respect to his elderly mother's death....because he didn't have an attorney. Judge Barry Donalty gave him until Monday to get one.
Auchmoody faces three felony charges - 2nd degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and endangering the welfare of a vulnerable elderly person.
Assistant District Attorney Kurt Hameline has been prosecuting crimes in Oneida County for more than 30 years, and says he's never seen such a severe case of elder abuse or neglect.
"She was basically emaciated," Hameline said. "Her body was covered with bedsores she had osteomyolitis. She had infections in her bones...her bones were basically rotting away. She wasn't able to move and...this is what we're saying, that he was reckless in that he either did not provide that care himself or seek someone who could."
Hameline says 89-year-old Edith Auchmoody died February 22. That's when her son David called a funeral home to pick up her body. Upon seeing the condition of her body, the funeral home contacted police and that's what got this criminal case rolling.
Why the eight month gap between Edith Auchmoody's death and her son's arrest?
Prosecutors say it's because it took that long to get the results of medical tests and when those results came just last month, they wanted to bring in an elder-care expert, and not rely only on input from the medical examiner.
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At least in the USA, neglecting an elder can result in a criminal charge(s). Not too sure about that in other countries. Australia has not caught up yet! Elder abuse - Neglect cases; victims of this category have absolutely no recourse at all. No one wants to know and care!
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