For more than six years, officials allege a Cobb County caregiver deprived a man of “necessary sustenance,” legal documents reveal.
After the man was found dead at a home in unincorporated Marietta early Wednesday morning, police confirmed foul play was suspected. Rachel Ernestine Ward was arrested later that day.
Ward, 62, was taken into custody at a home on Stoneridge Drive, where officials said they also located the victim. She faces a felony charge of neglect of an elderly person and remains in jail without bond.
According to an arrest warrant, Ward is accused of “willfully depriving said person of health care, shelter, necessary sustenance to the extent that the health or well-being of said person is jeopardized” over a period spanning from Jan. 1, 2019, through Wednesday.
Officials said Ward began acting as a caregiver for the victim, whose age was not released, in 2011. Police said she also identified herself as the victim’s goddaughter.
Authorities said Ward deprived the man of health care after he became sick and suffered from infected bed sores. The warrant alleged she also did not provide adequate nutrition, leading to a “significant” weight loss in recent months. Additionally, investigators said Ward kept the man in a home without air conditioning and failed to clean his room, bed or body when soiled.
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