Caregiver charged with neglect after disabled man dies

Published 7:01 am Tuesday, July 17, 2018

HASTINGS — The caregiver of a 19-year-old man with muscular dystrophy has been charged in Dakota County with neglect after taking him to a party where he consumed alcohol and died.

Twenty-four-year-old Taylor Wellman, of Inver Grove Heights, is charged with neglect of a vulnerable adult. Investigators say others at the party in Vermillion Township last August told police Wellman was drunk when she arrived with the man, who was confined to a wheelchair. Witnesses told police she ignored the man except to bring him beer and shots of alcohol.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports the complaint says the disabled man could not consume beverages by himself, had difficulty swallowing and wasn’t physically able to vomit. He eventually lost consciousness and could not be revived.

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