Daughter Charged with Criminal Neglect of an Elderly Person

KSDK TV 12
Created: 9/12/2007 1:28:04 PM
Last updated: 9/12/2007 7:01:58 PM

(KSDK) - A Belleville police officer who took a woman home after she fell in a parking lot found her dead mother inside the apartment, authorities said.

Karen F. Vickers, 65, of 16 Orchard View Court, was charged Tuesday with two counts of criminal neglect of an elderly person.

A newspaper carrier alerted police after finding Vickers lying in a parking lot, unable to get back to her feet, police said. Police said she was intoxicated and confused.

The officer took Vickers to her apartment and found Beatrice Vickers, 90, dead, hooked to an oxygen hose and lying in a temporary bed in the living room. Police said it appeared she had been "neglected for some time" and "dead for several hours."

After being taken to an area hospital for evaluation, Vickers was released into the custody of Belleville police Tuesday afternoon.

She was being held in the St. Clair County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bond.

KSDK TV12