Son Charged with Manslaughter After Neglecting Mother

Posted on behalf of Jeff Pitman on June 30, 2009 in Nursing Homes and Elder Rights
Updated on February 24, 2022

The Seattle Times (WA) ran a story involving a 41-year-old man who neglected his mother and was charged with first-degree manslaughter after her death.

Christopher Wise called the police after his 88-year-old mother, Ruby, had passed away. Upon finding the body, authorities said Rubys body was extremely emaciated and that a pressure sore on her shoulder blade went as deep as the bone. Weighing 70 lbs. at her time of death, Ruby was found wearing only a hospital robe and soiled adult diaper while laying in a bed stained with blood, urine, feces and pus.

A medical examiner attributed Rubys death to complications with the eight large and extremely deep pressure sores on her body.

Christopher was his mothers sole caregiver for the past decade and it had been two years since his mother had seen a doctor.

Neighbors told authorities that they could hear the woman moaning and yelling for help since April. During their investigation, they found earplugs in the living room. Wise would admit that he used the earplugs to drown out his mothers moans.

PKSD is a Wisconsin law firm with a devoted nursing home abuse practice. Ph: 877-877-2228.

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