A Schuylkill County woman is facing numerous charges for allegedly abusing her 92-year-old mother, suffering from dementia, who was under her care.
According to a criminal complaint filed by State Police-Frackville, Eileen Haines, of Zion Grove, allegedly physically and mentally abused her mother, including punching and kicking her, forcing her into the cold, and telling her she’d kill her.
Police were alerted to the alleged abuse by the granddaughter of the abused woman and niece of the accused. According to the granddaughter, the abused woman was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Hazleton on the morning of Dec. 2. That prompted her to review security camera footage from inside and outside the Zion Grove home.
When the granddaughter reviewed footage just from that day and the day prior, she allegedly saw some shocking scenes of abuse. Those videos were turned over to police on Dec. 4. Here is just some of what police say they’ve seen on the security footage:
These incidents are reported to have happened on Dec. 1:
- Haines slapping her mother.
- Haines yelling at her mother, saying “You want to die? I can make you die if I choose to … I could poison your food and have you dead in five minutes.”
- Haines pulls a nightgown off her mother twice and places a fan in front of her and tapes her feet together.
- Haines kicking her mother as she’s on the floor trying to remove the tape from her feet and legs.
Police say they witnessed these events and more on Dec. 2:
- Haines attempting to place an empty trash bag over her mother’s head.
- Haines kicking her mother several times.
- Haines hitting her mother in the head and grabbing her by the neck and hair and shaking her head back and forth.
- Haines yelling at her mother to get out of the house by sliding on her backside and forcing her outside while it was just 19 degrees wearing only a nightgown and one sock.
- Haines trying to place a rag in her mother’s mouth in an attempt to get her to stay quiet. She theatened to kill her mother, saying “I’m done. I will kill you. I Have ways to do it. I’ve been taught to kill a person in 5 minutes. Is that what you want?”
Haines was arraigned on Tuesday before District Magistrate Judge Edward Tarantelli, who remanded her to Schuylkill County Prison on $100,000 bail. She’ll have to answer to felony charges of aggravated assault and strangulation as well as about 60 misdemeanors at a preliminary hearing currently scheduled for Jan. 8, 2025.
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