Louisiana murder investigation uncovers another crime on video

In Lafayette, a terrifying story and investigation continue after a family says they were contacted by a Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office detective who showed them a video of their mother being abused by two nursing assistants, according to a report at KLFY.

How could all this happen? While analyzing the sequence of events, Patricia Verdugo and her sister were contacted by a detective in November 2023 to view a video. The video of an elderly woman being injured in the nursing home where she lives turned out to be her mother.

In a further shock, the video was found on the phone of the boyfriend of one of the two nursing assistants arrested. It was considered part of an unrelated murder investigation, but brought these other crimes to light.

Officials with the Lafayette Sheriff's Office say 34-year-old Christal Howard was charged with:

Simple attack

Cruelty towards the sick

Simple battery of the sick

Hate crimes

The second suspect in this case is being sought by sheriff's officials. They are looking for 33-year-old Dontrielle Harris on the following charges:

Cruelty towards the sick

Two cases of non-consensual sharing of a private image

The family of the victim involved in the nursing home abuse has filed a lawsuit against both women and the nursing home.

Verdugo says she and her sister were horrified by what they saw on those videos, and it was devastating to see what was done to their mother, who suffers from dementia.

Verdugo says her family thought they had done their homework to pick a good place for their mother, and they were completely shocked by what happened. The elderly woman's room is now equipped with cameras so they can monitor her mother.

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