SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio mother is “clinging to life” at a hospital after her three adult children severely neglected her, leading to her rapidly-declining health, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said.
The three suspects are being held in the Bexar County Jail on a charge of injury to a disabled individual causing serious bodily injury -- a first-degree felony.
“This is an extremely heartbreaking case,” Salazar said during a news briefing Thursday afternoon. “The mom is probably going to lose her life as a result of their negligence.”
The 57-year-old victim was bedridden and undergoing hospice care at her home in the 7900 block of Caballo Canyon on the city’s Northeast Side.
Her adult children -- 37-year-old Oscar Dominguez, 24-year-old Roxanna Carrero and 18-year-old Pedro Carrero -- were living with her at the time and were responsible for feeding her, taking her to her medical appointments, administering her medicine and other types of care.
However, her needs were not being met and it led to a rapid decline in her condition, Salazar said.
Their mother is now on a ventilator in the hospital and is in last-stage renal failure, likely due to medical neglect, the sheriff added.
“By all accounts, they did none of it for quite some time,” Salazar said. “I think every last one of them has an equal hand in ultimately what happens to their mom... God have mercy on their souls.”
Sheriff’s deputies were initially told about the case on Tuesday by the victim’s medical providers after they noticed a steep decline in her health.
Her providers notified Adult Protective Services, who then notified the sheriff’s office.
The initial report came out as a sexual assault due to the victim’s reported health problems.
Deputies found the woman in “deplorable conditions,” at her home, and Salazar said that likely led to her health issues worsening.
The sheriff’s office “felt the need to take resolute action very quickly.”
The victim was found with an adult diaper with feces, which led to multiple infections in other parts of her body. She also had open bed sores that were substantial.
“She’s been suffering for quite some time,” Salazar said.
The mother is not expected to survive. Salazar said if she succumbs to her condition, the charges her adult children are facing could be upgraded.