Caregiver Charged With Neglecting Autistic Woman Found Dead Last Year in SW Philadelphia
By Kim Glovas
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A Philadelphia caregiver has been arrested after allegedly neglecting a severely autistic woman in her charge who was later found dead.
Christina Sankey, 37, died in March of last year, during a time when temperatures didn't get above 28 degrees Farenheit.
First assistant district attorney Ed McCann says the autistic woman's caregiver, Hassanatu Wulu, had taken her into Macy's the day before she was found dead:
"(She) took her into the store, did not hold her hand or pay attention to her, went to a jewelry table, and as she was looking down at the jewelry, Christina walked out of the Macy's store and was found dead the next morning out in Southwest Philadelphia."
McCann says protocol calls for caregivers to hold the hand of severely autistic clients. He also says Wulu waited an hour before alerting store security or police.
She will be charged with neglecting a dependent care person, which is a first-degree felony.
