MIAMI GARDENS, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida woman is upset and speaking out after, she said, her elderly mother was the victim of alarming abuse at the hands of someone who was paid to care to her.
Speaking with 7News on Thursday, Miami Gardens resident Lisa Williams said a home health aide cares for her mother, Carmel, while she’s at work.
But last month, Williams said, the agency replaced a previous aide with 49-year-old Fanny Santana Enriquez.
Carmel’s family said they caught the new caregiver on video hurting the elderly woman.
“Pushing my mom, and when she pushed her, she even slapped her,” said Williams. “The hitting and the pushing her, that’s a no-no. We don’t do that.”
Miami Gardens Police call it aggravated elder abuse of an ailing, defenseless 84-year-old woman who needs care around the clock.
“She’s doing it to my mom, but my mom can’t speak. She’s not doing anything, she’s just laying there,” said Williams as she fought back tears.
“I heard little slapping noises from her room,” said Carmel’s granddaughter.
The noises led the family to learn something was wrong.
Carmel’s granddaughter said she went to check it out.
“And I saw her pushing Grandma around,” she said.
Carmel’s granddaughter said she wanted to capture the abuse so there would be evidence of it.
“So I basically went in the room, got my phone and started recording her and hitting, pushing Grandma roughly and being aggressive with her,” she said.
Carmel’s family said the caregiver can be heard verbally abusing her bedridden client
“You smell like [expletive],” Santana Enriquez is heard saying in Spanish. “I’m leaving my kids alone to take care of you.”
At one point, the victim’s grandson came in the room and reprimanded the aide, telling her not to hit his grandmother.
“This. You can’t do that,” said the grandson as he slapped his hands. “No hitting.”
Carmel’s grandson used Santana Enriquez’s cellphone to translate his message in Spanish.
“We just can’t have you manhandling her and hitting her,” the grandson is heard saying in the video.
The video recorded by the family shows Carmel being roughed up and pushed to the side of her bed, her hands forced to the bed rails.
A police report states the aide “is seen slapping the victim multiple times.”
“I don’t understand why,” said Williams.
The family called Miami Gardens Police and filed a report. They also called 7News.
7News followed up with phone calls to the police department, the latest one made Monday.
By Wednesday; Santana Enriquez was behind bars on a felony charge.
“I’m glad I was at work when it happened, because if I would have walked in on it, it wouldn’t have been good,” said Williams. “She needs to pay for what she did. She needs her license stripped, she needs to pay for what she did.”
Santana was a contracted employee for Mazal Nursing. The company has confirmed they have canceled their contract with her.
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