Society's Child

Woman Charged with Manslaughter for Leaving Mother on Toilet for 2 Days

MyFox DC
Wed, 22 Aug 2012 04:12 UTC

Cockeysville, Maryland - A Cockeysville woman has been charged with manslaughter after police say she left her 91-year-old mother on the toilet for two days.

A grand jury returned an indictment against 65-year-old Sharon Caslow last week after the death of 91-year-old Audrey Caslow was ruled a homicide. Sharon Caslow had previously been charged with abuse of a vulnerable adult.

Baltimore County medical workers found Audrey Caslow on a toilet on Jan. 17 at the home she shared with her daughter. Police say Sharon Caslow told officers she knew her mother had been in the bathroom for two days, but didn't ask for help. Audrey Caslow died 10 days later.

Medical examiners ruled that Audrey Caslow died of renal failure. Sharon Caslow's public defender did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Source: The Associated Press

Reader Comments

Beauzy · 2012-08-22T18:29:05Z

In all fairness

It was probably a lack of support issue.At 91 years old I suspect the daughter was at her wits end.
But instead she's heading for clientele status care of her local corporate prison industrial complex.
Sad situation all round IMO

closefriendofgod · 2012-08-22T19:28:59Z

not so

This is not a case of manslaughter There is no malice, premeditation or passion. No theft,no fraud. No life insurance policy in which to collect, no stolen credit cards, no legal document signed under duress or forged.

This is a 65 year old woman that cared for her Mother ,that loved her Mother and was her Mother's caregiver. Yet ,sometimes the caregiver also needs care..

Compassion is what is called for here. Not felonious prosecution. The above mentioned woman is a poorly chosen candidate for prosecutor prey. and as such, a grossly misdirected use of the judicial system.

With such a wealth of murderous talent from which to choose one would think that the Grand Jury would be more useful and just. And act in a rational and unbiased manner while serving the public to which they are accountable.

On a wistful note. We should all be so lucky as to die while sitting on the pot! And 91 no less!

Jean Michel · 2012-08-22T22:07:05Z

I'm sorry, but I cannot excuse or condemn her actions based solely on this report.

What we do know is that Sharon Caslow was previously charged with abuse of a vulnerable elder, she was aware that her mother had been in the bathroom for two days and that she has only been indicted, not convicted of this crime.

Compassion would be not letting your mother die from renal failure ten days after being rescued from a two-day toilet break.

In my opinion, there is no excuse for this type of thing. If Sharon was no longer able or willing to care for her mother than she needed to seek help. There are still some functioning social services. At the very least, she could have employed a neighbor's help in at least getting her mother out of the bathroom.

What I am seeing between the lines here is a bitter struggle that has been going on for years and the daughter finally let the mother have her way, and it may just cost her freedom. It has already cost a life.

For the Grand Jury to indict her is the only step that they could take according to the circumstances. Sharon Caslow allowed a dangerous situation to continue to the point of death with full awareness and competency to have prevented it.

Again, though, it is hard to come to any serious conclusions based solely on this article.

Nap · 2012-08-23T10:59:31Z

The Tip of Another Iceburg

We see similar articles daily regarding Alzheimers and other aging infirmiries. We need to see the fundamental problem with these conditions. When an aging individual looses the capability to take care of themselves they become a huge burden for the person or facility that takes care of them. If we accept the premise that devoting essentially full time to takeing care of such an individual is not something that any functioning individual would choose under normal conditions we see that the problems with ageing are much more systemic that currently described in the mainstream media. This is another example of the syndrome we see repeatedly in our society, the problem is the responsibility of the state, gov, or anybody but me. It is similar to the population discussion, no one takes responsiblitiy for their individual actions and its effect on the rest of the society that they are a part of. We continue to spout the rhetoric that we are individulists and free to do what we want without interference from government. A large number of these individuals that become wards of their family or the state probably with free will did many things which led them to the chronic illinesses or conditions that made them completely dependent for their survival on another human being. Obesity, diabetes, and the host of other chronic maladies are due in large part to excess and foolhardy choices that persons make in their younger years.

Punishing this woman is the admission of our hypochritical view of this daughters behavior. Like Jean Michael I can't condone her behavior under the circumstances but at another level I understand her frustration with the situation, it is a tragic situation to be faced with, and I hope that each of us would respond in the appropriate manner, Whatever that is???? What is the real solution?? The warehousing of these individuals until death?? I pose the dilema.

gdpetti · 2012-08-23T13:10:04Z

MyFox DC

IMO, you can't make any comment without more information, and be it fox or any of the rest, national or local, almost every media outlet is crap these days. They just don't report anything but headlines, and those are usually designed as a teaser only, thus the article above has so little content, that no context can be found, thus no opinion can be made, for better or worse.

This is another good example of the 'dumbing down' process. Soon, we'll just have them pointing fingers and laughing.... at us, for watching them go crazy.

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the craziest one of all?