Three siblings in San Antonio, Texas, are facing charges after authorities say they neglected their 58-year-old mom and left her in filth.
Patricia Martinez was brought to the hospital in crucial condition last week. She passed on Saturday afternoon after being taken off a ventilator, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar says.
In a press conference at the period of her arrest, Salazar said that Martinez was found in “deplorable conditions.” Deputies say they discovered her covered in bedsores with mould growing on some parts of her body. She was also unable to move and had health issues that required hospice care.
Authorities first knew of the matter on August 16 when Martinez’s medical care providers said that they had seen a rash, abrupt decrease in her health. Authorities reached the house and took Martinez to the hospital for medication.
Salazar said that Martinez’s adult children — 37-year-old Oscar Dominguez, 24-year-old Roxanna Carrero and 18-year-old Pedro Carrero — were all staying with her.
Salazar said that the three adult children were responsible for taking her to medical appointments, feeding Martinez, bathing her and giving her medicine–which they failed in doing.
All three adult children are currently charged with injury to a disabled individual causing serious bodily injury — a first-degree felony. They are being held on $85,000 bond each. Salazar said that the charges might be upgraded to murder.
Salazar said that the case had left him shaken.
“She’s going to pay with her life for their neglect,” he said. “God have mercy on their souls when their time comes.”
All three defendants are to remain in jail. None of them has entered a plea, and court records don’t reflect an attorney authorized to speak on their behalf.
