BONDURANT, Iowa — More than a month after a woman was found dead outside of Courtyard Estates at Hawthorne Crossing, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office announced an employee at the facility has been charged with Dependent Adult Abuse – Intentional/Reckless Abuse.
Detectives said they charged 30-year-old Catherine Forkpa of Ankeny in relation to the death of Lynne Harriet Stewart after reviewing hours of video, conducting interviews and examining other evidence including phone records.
Forkpa intentionally committed abuse by neglecting her responsibilities at Courtyard Estates, according to a criminal compliant. On the night of Jan. 20 into Jan. 21, Forkpa allegedly was not carrying an iPad that sent notifications of alarms occurring within the memory care unit. Since she should have had the iPad, but did not, Forkpa could not respond to the alarms.
The complaint says Stewart was found on the ground outside around 6:10 a.m. on Jan. 21 "with items frozen to her body." The door that she was next to had been in alarm mode since 11:34 p.m. on Jan. 20.
Stewart had apparently been taking clothes out of her room during the night and putting the items by the door. She then went out through the door and couldn't get back in due to the security system locking it behind her.
"During this time the alarm was sending notifications to the iPad saying the door was still in alarm. While the alarm was still active the system was unable to send any other alarms until that first one was cleared for the Exterior Door," according to the complaint.
Stewart's door alarm was also activated around 4:30 p.m. on the 20th.
The complaint lists her cause of death as hypothermia and cardiac arrest, saying temperatures ranged from -3 degrees to -8 degrees that night.
The complaint also alleges Forkpa failed to walk down the east corridor of the facility to check on patients or alarms there throughout the night.
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