Caregiver Convicted of Elder Abuse

Nov. 19, 2021 – A professional caregiver was convicted Thursday on felony neglect charges involving an elderly disabled Bartlett woman who sustained critical injuries in a fall that occurred when she was left alone by the caregiver who left her shift early, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.

     The Criminal Court jury convicted Patricia Chambers, 54, on two counts each of aggravated neglect of an elderly or vulnerable adult and aggravated abuse of an elderly or vulnerable adult.

    She is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 13 by Judge W. Mark Ward.

    Chambers worked for Right at Home Staffing Services as a caregiver for the 80-year-old woman who suffered from severe Parkinson’s, could not feed or care for herself, and required 24-hour assistance.

    On April 18, 2019, Chambers was scheduled to care for the woman until midnight at the Robinwood Assisted Living Facility on Kirby Whitten Parkway in Bartlett.

    When the relief caregiver arrived at midnight, however, she found the elderly woman on the floor in a fetal position. Chambers was not there.

   The woman was hospitalized with severe pain and was unable to ever swallow or eat again, requiring a permanent feeding tube.

   She died less than a year later.

   Chambers told investigators the woman was sleeping, so she thought it was safe to leave and clock out on her phone at 11:58 pm. An examination of her cell phone records, however, showed that she was more than 20 miles away in the Whitehaven area at 11:58 p.m.

   The case was handled by Senior Felony Asst. Danielle McCollum and Asst. Dist. Atty. Tanisha Johnson.