A mental evaluation is under way for a Licking woman who authorities say contributed to the death of her mother.
Patricia Davis, 67, is charged with manslaughter in the May death of her mother.
Family members of Kathleen Davis, 91, said they continue to seek an attorney to guide them after their cousin was charged Oct. 16. Bond was originally set at $500,000. Associate Circuit Judge Kelly Rowden has been assigned the case after Jason MacPherson, assistant county prosecutor, filed the charges.
Authorities say the woman left her mother on the floor for weeks before she was pronounced dead in May 2019 at Texas County Memorial Hospital. Davis also faces first-degree assault and abuse of elderly charges related to the retired Missouri Department of Family Services employee’s death.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said last week it was an unable to comment on the case, but said it would speak with relatives if contacted.
A great-niece, Kelly Suter, last week asked Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt to open an inquiry.
“This outcome was feared by our family who continually asked for intervention from Health and Senior Services. It was obvious that Pat couldn’t take care of herself, much less her mother, yet HSS wasn’t competent to discern that. If the prosecutor truly wants justice he should look there,” said Michael Ragain, a nephew of Kathleen Davis.
Other relatives describe months of signs that things were horribly wrong at the Highway N home at Licking. They uncovered that about $750,000 had been taken by scammers who took advantage of the women. In May 2018, Patricia Davis ran a red light in Houston and struck another vehicle driven by a Yukon woman. According to a report, the driver told an officer “everything happened so fast” and that she “must have failed to stop, but did not remember.” No one was injured.
A St. Louis-area relative said she witnessed her cousin run a second red light in another unrelated incident.
Other times they visited and found horrors of neglect. Family members at one point said Patricia Davis, a retired public school teacher, exhumed the body of the family dog and attempted to feed it.