Docs: Indianapolis mother charged with neglect after leaving 40-year-old daughter on floor for 7 days

INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis woman was recently arrested after she reportedly refused to pick up her partially paralyzed daughter off the floor when she fell from her bed, causing the daughter to remain there for a week.

According to court documents, filed in Marion County on Thursday, 75-year-old Rose Chavis has been charged with two counts of neglect of a dependent resulting in bodily injury, each a Level 5 felony.

In mid-September, first responders were called to a home on Lancashire Court on an initial report of an assault. When they arrived, they reportedly found a 40-year-old woman lying on the floor between the wall and her bed. The woman told police that she initially fell out of her bed and could not get up.

The woman told medics that she had been on the floor for seven days and was not able to get up on her own because of her cerebral palsy and her being partially paralyzed. The documents said that the woman was reportedly urinating and defecating on herself.

The woman’s mother, later identified as Chavis, reportedly was in the home as her daughter was on the floor. The daughter told first responders that Chavis “stated she would not call 911… because she wanted (the daughter) to ‘get up on her own.'” The mother brought her daughter food, fluids and her medication during the week-long period.

The daughter eventually called 911 after she reached her cell phone with a coat hanger. During the 911 call, the documents state that the daughter said that she had been on the floor for seven days while her mother was downstairs.

In an interview with Chavis, she reportedly told law enforcement that her daughter was “warned not to call the ambulance because (she called) them too many times in the past.” Chavis said that even though her daughter needed help, Chavis was not able to help her get up.

“When (officers) asked if (the daughter) had been on the floor for seven days, (Chavis) stated she did not know if (the daughter) had been on the floor for seven days, but it was more than one day,” the documents said. “(Chavis) stated that she attempted to help (her daughter) get up off the floor and take her to the hospital. She made several attempts over several days to get (her daughter) off the floor.”

According to court documents, Chavis’ initial hearing is scheduled for Oct. 7. The court set a bond for Chavis at $10,000 surety.

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