88-year-Old Woman's Death In Denver Declared Homicide

DENVER, CO – The death of an 88-year-old Denver woman who weighed only 72 lbs. and suffered from dementia and Parkinsons was declared a homicide by the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner.

Mary Smith died in a Denver hospital on May 22, 2018. Adult Protective Services and the Denver police determined that she had been neglected and denied "adequate food, psychological care, physical care, medical care, and other treatment necessary," according to an autopsy report. Smith's daughter, who said she was a certified nurse assistant, was the primary caregiver for her mother. The daughter is not named in the report.

Denver police said Tuesday that no charges have yet been filed or arrests made in this case.

The daughter removed Smith, who couldn't speak and was described as wheelchair-bound/bedridden, from a hospital in July of 2017 against the advice of doctors, the report said. The daughter originally told doctors Smith would be moved to Texas, but in March of 2018, the family sought care in Denver for "spider bites" on Smith, that turned out to be bedsores, the report said.

Doctors worried about Smith's weight recommended a special feeding schedule "every three hours" and that wound care visits should continue for eight weeks. At the first home visit, a nurse noted that Smith had at least three bedsores. When their insurance denied physical/occupational therapy and home health aides, the family refused the service, saying they could care for Smith themselves, the report said.

In May, Smith was brought to a hospital weighing 72 lbs. and barely responding. She died a few days later, after the family asked that extraordinary measures be declined.

Meredith A. Frank, forensic pathologist for the City of Denver, declared the manner of Smith's death a homicide on Aug. 12. Denver Police and Adult Protective Services helped with the investigation, Frank's report said. The Denver Medical Examiner's Office sent out a statement about the death this week.

"This is a case of a frail and sick individual who is completely dependent on care provided by others," Frank wrote. "The primary caretaker does not follow a care plan and does not seek medical attention or provide adequate nutrition or medications to the decedent as recommended. Furthermore, the decedent is removed from a hospital against medical advice and is denied scheduled wound care by a home health nurse during the final year of her life. The manner of death, in my opinion, is homicide."

Mary Jane (Palmer) Smith was born and grew up in Macon, Missouri, where she graduated valedictorian of her high school class, according to her obituary. She was mother of five children and a businesswoman who ran a beauty shop. She and her husband moved to Denver in 1965. She was a Girl Scout leader, devoted volunteer and parishioner of Cure d'Ars Church.

Image via Dignity Memorial

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