Four employees at the Brompton Heights Senior Living facility in Williamsville have been charged with abandoning the care of an elderly resident.
The New York Attorney General's Office says the 87-year-old resident wandered outdoors, in only her nightgown, into freezing temperatures while the four employees disregarded their duties. She was found several hours later "nearly unconscious and suffering from hypothermia, bruising and frostbite."
It happened on a cold December night in 2017. The AG's Office says Personal Care Aide George Stokes was sleeping during half his shift, leaving the residential hall he was monitoring unattended. Meanwhile, Aides LaQuanda Johnson and Caprice Newbern and Medical Technician Stephanie Shinault were supposed to be monitoring a nurse's station, but instead left the facility together on a break.
All were arraigned in Amherst Town Court on a charge of felony endangering the welfare of a vulnerable elderly person in the second degree and misdemeanor endangering the welfare of an incompetent person in the second degree. Each faces up to one-to-four years in prison if convicted on the felony.
Brompton Heights was opened in 1982 and is operated by the Hamister Group.
