MIAMI (WSVN) - A South Florida woman who cared for a senior resident with dementia and her boyfriend were arrested after, authorities said, they stole thousands of dollars from the patient.
Forty-five-year-old Evelyn Dinora Lopez De Ramirez and 45-year-old Yuri Hernandez are accused of stealing from 69-year-old Maria Garcia.
Garcia’s cousin, Lourdes Rosada, said she is thankful that police arrested the pair.
“We’re angry, hurt. They took advantage of a woman that had spent her whole life taking care of other people,” said Rosada.
The victim taught children with special needs for many years and is currently retired. In addition to having been diagnosed with dementia, she is legally blind.
Garcia hired Lopez to help her.
According Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, Lopez and her boyfriend took more than $130,000 from Garcia by accessing her checking and saving accounts.
“At this time, I find probable cause on all three charges, $10,000 on each count,” said Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Gisela Cardonne Ely.
The couple appeared before a judge on Thursday. According to prosecutors, the abuse did not stop at stealing.
“Also, judge, she’s supposed to care for the victim, but the victim was left in filth without any food, not well cared for,” said a prosecutor.
Garcia is now safe, and the alleged abusers are locked up. They are being charged with theft form the elderly and organized fraud.
“A number of serious charges against both of them, because shame on them,” said Fernandez Rundle.
Garcia’s family is thankful for the work of the Miami-Dade Police Department’s Special Victims Unit.
“They didn’t let it go, and they made sure that justice was served, and now we defer to the state attorney’s office, which is adamant about the prosecution, and we are here to facilitate and assist in any way that we can to ensure that this doesn’t happen to anyone else’s family,” said Rosada.
The couple remains in jail as of Friday afternoon. If they do bond out, they must surrender their passports.
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