Washington caregiver accused in death of disabled teen

YAKIMA, Wash. -- A former caregiver in Washington state is accused of neglecting and starving a 16-year-old girl who was quadriplegic, resulting in the teen's death in 2016.

The Yakima-Herald Republic reports the 45-year-old woman appeared in Yakima County Superior Court on Monday on charges of second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter.

Court documents say the woman dropped the teen off at the hospital in March 2016. The teen was sent to Seattle Children's where she died two months later.

Doctors found the teen weighed only 45 pounds, suffered from a lung infection, and had bed sores and a rotted ear from being left in the same position for at least a month.

According to the affidavit, a doctor specializing in the treatment of neglected patients called it the worst case he had seen in his 45-year career.

Documents say the woman was paid $4,000 per month to care for the teen.