Felony Murder Reduced to Involuntary Manslaughter
Robin Sanford, an Eaton County woman, has pled guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter following the death of her aged mother. Prosecutors offered Sanford a plea deal last week, where she agreed to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter in return for dismissal of the murder charge she was facing.
After just a few days in Sparrow Hospital, 76-year-old Nancy Belen passed away. According to police, Belen, who was Sanford’s mother, was admitted to the ER covered in her own urine and feces. She was also suffering from liver failure, an infection in her skin, dehydration, malnourishment, and bed sores so deep that her bones were visible.
Belen apparently had lived at the Red Roof Inn in Delta Township for ten years, in a room she shared with her daughter and grandson. A situation which, according to the prosecutor’s office, meant that Sanford was responsible for her mother’s well being. But how responsible can one be when your mother is a legal adult who refuses care or assistance?
Only one week before her death, a representative from Adult Protective Services visited Belen in her home at the Red Roof Inn, and saw no cause for alarm. The representative, one Holly Sun, is said to have come as a result of an anonymous complaint. She is alleged to have stood in the doorway of the hotel room and asked a few questions about Belen’s care.
Sun later declared Belen of sound mind, and noted that there was no cause for alarm. But six days later Belen was taken by ambulance to the hospital, where she died just a few days after that. Testimony has revealed that Belen mistrusted doctors, and was reluctant to seek out medical care. She was also noted as being stubborn.
Sanford and her son were both initially charged with involuntary manslaughter and second-degree vulnerable adult abuse. However, during the first day of the hearing, the prosecutor’s office amended the charges against Sanford to felony murder and first-degree vulnerable adult abuse.
The plea agreement, however, changed all that, putting involuntary manslaughter back on the table, and once again reducing the vulnerable adult charge back to second degree. Under Michigan law, while these are both still felonies, Sanford now faces 15 years in prison, as opposed to what could have been as much as life behind bars.
“Bed sores”, also called pressure ulcers, are a condition that develops when a bedridden person lies in one position for extended periods of time. Most commonly, they occur on the parts of the body that are subjected to the most pressure when a person is lying down, like the ankles, hips, buttocks and elbows. Sustained pressure interrupts blood flow, which causes skin and muscle tissue to die. The longer the pressure goes unrelieved, the deeper the wound becomes, until eventually it becomes possible to see bone in the open wound.