Sheriff’s deputies arrested two caregivers of a disabled Jefferson County woman Wednesday on suspicion of crimes related to her death, officials said Thursday.
When first responders found 58-year-old Sheryl Seitz, she was lying on an air mattress in an Arvada garage, covered in filth and maggots, according to a Thursday news release from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies arrested Seitz’s son and his girlfriend Wednesday on suspicion of crimes against an at-risk person resulting in death as well as crimes against an at-risk person resulting in serious injury. The victim’s son also faces a charge of tampering with physical evidence.
The Arvada Fire Department responded to reports of a sick person at an Airbnb in the 6400 block of Kendall Street on Monday, the release stated. Paramedics transported Seitz to a local hospital, where she died from her injuries a day later.
Hospital records indicated that Seitz was suffering from bed sores, two hip fractures, a “loosely connected wrist,” ulcers, septic shock and maggots burrowing into her body when she arrived on Monday, sheriff’s officials said Thursday.
The Arvada Police Department began the initial investigation but quickly learned that the crimes likely occurred at an RV storage lot in unincorporated Jefferson County where the victim and the two suspects lived separately, according to Thursday’s release.
On Wednesday, sheriff’s deputies executed search warrants at the trailer where Brian Seitz and Laura Prats — the son and his girlfriend — lived, Sheryl Seitz’s RV and the car driven by the two suspects, Thursday’s release stated. Both suspects were arrested.
Because of the victim’s declining medical condition and her inability to walk or care for herself, the two suspects had been her caretakers for the last six or seven years, sheriff’s officials said. The two received state funding for the older woman’s care through a home healthcare company for 83 hours a week.
Seitz’s RV did not have running water or a bed for her to sleep in, the release stated. The only source of heat in the RV was a space heater.
The death is still under investigation and official autopsy results are pending. The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office will release Seitz’s official cause and manner of death at a later date.
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