A Northampton County woman who cared for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in her home has been charged with felony neglect nearly three years after a 51-year-old woman with Down syndrome died in her care. Susan Edwards, 59, was arrested and charged following an investigation into the October 2023 death, which prosecutors say resulted from septic complications tied to pressure ulcers that went untreated for more than four weeks.
Edwards was a Lifesharing provider through Access Services, a Fort Washington-based nonprofit that has offered community-based support for people with intellectual disabilities and autism since 1978, when it was founded following the closure of Pennhurst State Institution. As NBC10 Philadelphia reported, Edwards was charged with two felony counts: neglect of a care-dependent person causing serious bodily injury or death, and endangering the welfare of a care-dependent person. She was responsible for meal preparation, hygiene, medical assistance and transportation to the victim's medical appointments.
Under Pennsylvania's Lifesharing program, which operates through the Department of Human Services Office of Developmental Programs, up to two individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities may live in a private household with paid caregivers. That structure, meant to offer a community-integrated alternative to group homes, leaves oversight dependent largely on periodic agency visits and self-reporting by caregivers rather than continuous outside monitoring.
Weeks of Untreated Wounds Preceded the Death
According to prosecutors, Edwards admitted she had been aware of the victim's wounds for several weeks and attempted to treat them herself rather than seeking medical care. The station's report also states that medical appointments were canceled or delayed as the victim's condition worsened, and that a wound care expert concluded the injuries would have been noticeable to the caregiver. On the day the victim died, Edwards had left her with another resident who also has an intellectual or developmental disability.
Edwards was required to monitor the victim's health and report significant changes to Access Services, but she did not notify the agency that she was unable to provide adequate care, per the same account. The Office of Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Section investigated the circumstances surrounding the death, ultimately determining the woman died from septic complications caused by untreated pressure ulcers.
Medical research indexed by the National Institutes of Health indicates that severe, untreated stage IV pressure injuries complicated by systemic infection and sepsis carry mortality rates approaching 50 percent, underscoring how dangerous the neglect described in the case became once infection set in.
Attorney General Cites 'Blatant Neglect'
Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday said every Pennsylvanian deserves to be treated with dignity and receive the care they need, adding that the case involves what he called blatant neglect of care that led to death. Edwards has since been released on $50,000 unsecured bail, and her preliminary hearing is scheduled for August 19.
The nearly three-year gap between the victim's October 2023 death and this week's charges reflects the scope of the state's review. Jurisdiction over criminal neglect cases in Medicaid-funded care programs rests with the Care-Dependent Neglect Team inside the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Section, the unit tasked with distinguishing reckless or intentional criminal neglect from ordinary medical decline before charges can be filed.
Part of a Broader Enforcement Pattern
Edwards' arrest came just five days after the same Medicaid Fraud Control Section charged four home care workers in Warren County with neglect following the death of another care-dependent resident, pointing to sustained state enforcement activity around fatal caregiver neglect in home-based care settings. It also follows a case Hoodline reported on last month, in which Delaware County prosecutors charged two caretakers with neglect and abuse after a 20-year-old woman with Down syndrome was found starved, assaulted and locked outside her residence.
Under Pennsylvania's Act 53 of 2018, neglect of a care-dependent person that results in serious bodily injury or death is graded as a felony of the first degree, reflecting the severity of the charges Edwards now faces. The same 2018 law also requires state regulatory bodies, including the Department of Human Services and Department of Health, to immediately report reasonable suspicion of caretaker neglect or abuse to law enforcement or the Attorney General's office, a mandate designed to speed intervention when care-dependent adults are endangered.
Open questions remain about what oversight occurred at Edwards' home during the four weeks the pressure ulcers were developing, and whether Access Services faced any administrative review from the Department of Human Services as a result of the case. Neither has been addressed publicly as the criminal case moves toward next week's preliminary hearing.
