Wade
A Hope woman who was convicted of neglecting an elder dependent in her care has been sentenced to serve five years in prison after the man entrusted to her care died.
Teresa Wade, 57, was sentenced to serve that time in the Indiana Department of Correction followed by two years of probation upon her release for serious injuries sustained by the victim in the case, William Ward, 67, of Columbus.
According to a press release issued by the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, the case against Wade originated Dec. 21, 2018, when Sgt. Jason Williams, a detective at the time, was assigned to investigate a severe neglect of a dependent case at Columbus Regional Hospital. CRH officials and medical staff advised Williams that Ward had suffered what were deemed serious and likely fatal injuries from being neglected and denied medical care.
Ward was malnourished and suffered severe bed sores, which resulted in infection inside his body and bones, according to the sheriff’s department, which said Ward died a short time later. Ward had suffered a stroke and Wade had been appointed by a judge to be his caretaker.
Throughout Sgt. Williams’ investigation, he learned that Wade had moved Ward into a small home she shared with her husband. The sheriff’s department said Wade admitted she continued to take advantage of the fact that she was the payee for Ward’s disability payment each month.
According to the sheriff’s department, Wade failed to care for Ward by not taking him to his medical appointments and not filling or administering his medications as prescribed. At the time of Williams’ investigation, Ward was admitted to the hospital because he was extremely malnourished.
Wade was arrested and charged with multiple neglect counts. After several court delays and continuances, Wade pleaded guilty in October 2021 to Level 3 felony neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury. At a sentencing hearing in Bartholomew Circuit Court on March 24, Wade was ordered to serve five years in the Indiana Department of Corrections and two years of probation once she is released.
During Williams’ investigation, he also found that Wade had been sentenced to the Indiana Department of Correction previously for an unrelated neglect case. According to DOC records, Wade served a three-year sentence after she was convicted of neglect of a dependent in an unrelated Bartholomew County case. She was released from the DOC in 2002.
