A caregiver at a Georgia assisted living home was charged April 8 with exploiting and strangling a resident after police viewed footage from a camera the resident’s son had hidden in her room.
“The video surveillance captured Lisa Williams hitting the victim in the head, kicking her legs, dropping her on the floor and strangling her with her own shirt,” according to a news release obtained from the Gwinnett County Police Department by McKnight’s Senior Living. “The victim is wheelchair-bound. Her physical condition prevented her from being able to ward off such repulsive attacks.”
Williams faces two counts of exploitation of a disabled adult and one count of aggravated assault by strangulation. She was arrested after officers were called to Personal Touch, an assisted living facility in Loganville, GA, on April 6. There, they viewed the video from a camera that had been set up by the resident’s son, whose mother had told him she was being abused.
Detectives are determining whether to file additional charges against Williams and whether any other residents were treated similarly.
“We are disgusted and saddened that people who are tasked with caring for some of the most vulnerable people in our society would use that as an opportunity to do intentional harm to them,” the police department said, promising “a swift and thorough investigation that will support the criminal prosecution of Lisa Williams.”
McKnight’s Senior Living sought comment from Personal Touch, but nobody answered the telephone there, and a voicemail message left did not elicit a response.
