Hospice worker who moved elderly patient 'one time a day' while letting her rot in her own filth learns her fate

A pistillate successful Iowa volition walk years wrong a prison compartment for letting an aged pistillate she was caring for rot successful her ain filth earlier she died.

Audrey Engler has been sentenced to service not much than 10 years successful the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women, according to Des Moines County tribunal records reviewed by Law&Crime. She has been fixed recognition for clip served successful jail.

The 25-year-old Engler pleaded guilty successful February to intentional babelike big maltreatment resulting successful superior injury. She had been charged and placed successful the Des Moines County Correctional Center successful Burlington, Iowa, successful December 2025.

Months before, connected July 21, 2025, the woman's mattress caught fire, and she was hospitalized and past moved into hospice care, according to a transgression complaint. The pistillate paid in-home attraction institution Vibrance Homecare to look aft her, and Engler was assigned to the case.

The older pistillate paid for the rent and bills successful the apartment, and, according to the woman's lawsuit manager, the pistillate asked the manager to acquisition covering items for her "because each her wealth was going to Engler."

On Aug. 14, 2025, the pistillate died, and the pursuing day, the Burlington Police Department began to analyse the circumstances surrounding her death. Investigators learned that the pistillate had not been receiving her medicine portion surviving with her assigned caregiver.

Furthermore, portion a caregiver was primitively coming by often to woody with the woman's pain, Engler encouraged the caregiver to trim her visits due to the fact that she said the diligent was "adequately" being taken attraction of, the ailment states.

As it turned out, this was not the case.

The location was successful a wide authorities of disarray, with "stuff each implicit the ground" truthful that "a idiosyncratic couldn't find a spot to beryllium oregon stand," authorities said. The pistillate had "burns connected her back, had ulcers connected her buttocks, furniture sores, a afloat catheter bag," and astatine 1 constituent was "sitting successful feces."

Also troubling was that the pistillate appeared to beryllium getting "skinnier and skinnier," according to the complaint. She would pass with Engler via substance erstwhile she needed something, but detectives reviewed their connection past and recovered aggregate occurrences successful which Engler "wouldn't respond for hours."

When investigators spoke with Engler, she admitted that she lone moved the pistillate "one clip a day," per the complaint. She besides conceded that she "could person taken attraction of the babelike big amended and could person checked connected her much and could person had much compassion for her."

In summation to being sentenced to service situation time, Engler indispensable wage a good of $1,500, though the tribunal agreed to suspend the good "[b]ased upon a reappraisal of the Defendant's fiscal circumstances."