by: Ashlyn Williams
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – An Augusta man has died and his daughter is charged with neglect and exploitation.
Warrants reveal more information about allegations of severe abuse in case of 38-year-old Dianna Laws, charged with neglect and exploitation of her father, 62-year-old Bobby Laws, who died at Augusta University Medical Center yesterday, December 15th.
Included are allegations that the father lost more than 80 pounds in the past 5 months while in the care of his daughter and that money for food and care for the elderly man were used by his daughter to pay off personal debts.
Ten days prior to his death, Richmond County Sheriff’s Office had begun an investigation into his treatment while in the care of his daughter after concerns were raised during his emergency treatment at Augusta University Medical Center.
Sheriff’s Office Deputies responded to the Emergency Room at AUMC Sunday, December 5th, in response to call for a suspicious situation concerning an elderly male subject, 62-year-old Bobby, who’d just been admitted. At this point, the Sheriff’s Office began an investigation into the possibility that his welfare had been endangered.
Warrants in the arrest of the deceased’s daughter, 38-year-old Dianna, allege that Laws willingly deprived her father of healthcare and necessary nourishment, jeopardizing his health and wellbeing.
One of the factors of the elder Laws’ deprivation, according to arrest warrants in the case, include a massive weight loss of 88 pounds within a five-month time period, during which his daughter, Dianna, was his live-in caretaker at a home on the 3000 block of Deans Bridge Road.
Bobby Laws’ wounds included lacerations, exposed bones, maggot-infested cuts and sores, and stage 4 pressure ulcers, according to both the warrants for the younger Laws’ arrest and a report by the Richmond County Coroner’s Report, filed after the older Laws’ death.
Coroner Mark Bowen’s report also states that Laws was admitted into the ER with electrical tape around his legs.
Further warrants for the arrest of the deceased’s daughter accuse her of profiting off checks intended for her father’s care. The 38-year-old is alleged to have been paying her own bills and debts using Bobby Laws’ social security checks during her nine years as Laws’ live-in caregiver.
Dianna Louise Laws is being held at Charles B. Webster Detention currently on charges of Exploitation of an Elderly or Disabled Person and Neglect of an Elderly or Disabled Person.
The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office tells WJBF that they are
continuing to investigate and that further charges are pending autopsy
results.
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