An Arvada caregiver who admitted to neglecting a disabled woman in her care has been ordered to serve 11 years in prison, a sentence Jefferson County officials say ranks among the toughest local punishments for a caretaker-neglect case.
On Feb. 5, Jefferson County District Court sentenced 55-year-old Laura Prats after she pleaded guilty to negligent death of an at-risk person in the death of 58-year-old Sheryl Seitz. Prosecutors say Seitz was discovered in April 2024 in a state of advanced neglect and died the following day at a hospital.
According to a press release from the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office, Jefferson County District Judge Jason Carrithers found there was “extraordinary aggravation” and imposed an 11-year prison term followed by three years of mandatory parole. Chief Deputy District Attorney Bryan Cook urged the court to treat the neglect as prolonged and especially damaging, saying, “The pain must've been unimaginable for Ms. Seitz.” Prosecutors said Prats had already pleaded guilty to negligent death of an at-risk person as part of the case resolution.
First responders were dispatched to an Airbnb in the 6400 block of Kendall Street on April 29, 2024, and found Seitz on an air mattress in a garage, “covered in filth and maggots,” according to The Denver Gazette. She was transported to a nearby hospital where clinicians documented advanced bed sores, two hip fractures, ulcers, a loosely connected wrist, and septic shock. Hospital records also noted maggots burrowing into her wounds. Seitz died the next day.
Both Prats and the victim’s son, Brian Seitz, pleaded guilty in separate hearings. Brian was sentenced to 10 years in prison in December 2025. The First Judicial District charged the pair with negligent death of an at-risk person and related counts, and prosecutors said the evidence showed months of neglect, including failure to properly treat pressure sores and delayed medical care. The office said it did not agree to any sentencing concessions when the pleas were accepted, and the charges and plea agreements were detailed by the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
Investigators told reporters the alleged neglect likely occurred at an RV storage lot in unincorporated Jefferson County. Prosecutors executed search warrants at the victim’s trailer, the suspects' trailer, and their vehicle, and reported that the victim’s living space had no running water and lacked a proper bed. Local outlets also reported that the Arvada Fire Department initially responded to the rental where Seitz was discovered. CBS Colorado covered the scene and related warrants.
Family reaction and oversight questions
Seitz’s mother submitted a written statement to the court, calling her daughter’s death a “direct result of abject neglect and complete disregard for human life.” She also alleged that Prats used roughly $4,400 per month that the family received through Lark Home Care to fund a drug habit. Judge Carrithers said he was struck by the fact that Prats and Brian Seitz had ever been approved as caregivers at all, describing the regulatory oversight as effectively non-existent. Those details and the mother’s filing were reported by the Denver Gazette.
Legal outlook
Colorado law treats criminal negligence that results in the death of an at-risk person as a class 4 felony, a statutory category that carries significant prison exposure. The statutory framework for crimes involving at-risk persons is set out in the Colorado Revised Statutes, which are published online at Justia. In Prats’ sentencing, the court used discretionary findings of aggravation to impose a prison term close to the maximum available under the plea agreement.
Prats will be transferred to the Department of Corrections to begin serving her sentence, followed by a mandatory period of parole. The case has renewed questions about how paid caregivers are vetted and overseen in Jefferson County, a concern that prosecutors and advocates say could spur closer scrutiny from regulators and law enforcement going forward.
