Nursing Home Employee Found Guilty of Elder Abuse

By Daniel Hawn

Published on August 01, 2005

Debbie Montes of Marysville faces a maximum of six months in jail for the conviction.

The victim, Mildred Taylor, was a 98-year-old wheelchair bound resident of Prestige Assisted Living, the nursing home where Montes worked.

No one witnessed to seeing Montes put Taylor outside, however, it was discovered that Montes falsely claimed to have checked on all of the home's residents before she left on the night of June 26, 2004. Later that night, another employee of Prestige discovered Taylor's room empty, with the bed completely made.

Taylor was found the next morning outside of the facility, barely clothed and trembling from the cold. She passed away a month later.

On the night in question, Montes was seen having difficulty helping Taylor get into her wheelchair. Afterward, Montes was overheard insisting that Taylor apologize to her for causing the trouble.

Montes' attorney argued that the worker who was responsible for the Alzheimer's unit after Montes left the facility could have put Taylor outside. In a concluding statement, he said that if Montes was guilty of anything it was ordinary negligence and not criminal negligence.

Following the event, Prestige said it would work to improve resident supervision at the facility.

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