Authorities in New Mexico have charged two caregivers with torturing a severely autistic woman who died just weeks after being discovered sorely mistreated and in tears in a van driving toward the Mexican border.
When Mary Melero, 38, was discovered on Feb. 23 in Texas close to the U.S. border, she was so battered that she was unable to stand and was unresponsive.
At a press conference last week, Raul Torrez, the attorney general of New Mexico, revealed that she died on Apr. 7 at a local hospital.
"In my nearly 20 years as a prosecutor, I can tell you without question that the injuries that Mary endured, that the harm that was inflicted upon her was nothing sort of torture," Torrez said, New York Post reported.
"She had multiple bed sores and pressure wounds that were so severe there were even exposed bones," he said. "There were marks and abrasions and ligature marks that indicated that she had in fact been restrained at some point."
On Wednesday, allegations of abuse, neglect, false imprisonment, conspiracy to commit false imprisonment, and refusal to report were brought against Patricia Hurtado, 42, and Angelita Chacon, 52.
According to the publication, 53-year-old Luz Scott, who was operating the vehicle, was accused of conspiring to commit false imprisonment as well as false imprisonment.
According to Torrez, the state-funded At Home Advocacy program, which is intended to provide in-home care for the disabled, paid Chacon around $5,000 per month to look after Melero.
In Rio Rancho, a town close to Albuquerque, Chacon resided in Melero's house.
She acknowledged to hitting the victim in the face with a portable stereo and told police that Melero had spent three days in a bathtub covered in her own feces and urine.
According to a court affidavit acquired by USA Today, Chacon and Hurtado divided caregiving responsibilities and listed Scott to transport Melero to Mexico, likely for medical treatment.
Melero was sobbing when she was discovered on the van's floor, wrapped in a blanket, with soiled bandages covering her open wounds, authorities reported.
She was diagnosed with pneumonia and was later sent to a hospital in El Paso, where she passed away.
Patrick Allen, the state's secretary of health, described the incident as "the worst breach of trust DOH has ever seen."
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