A home health worker is going to prison for starving her disabled aunt, which resulted in her death. A news release from the Brazos County district attorney’s office says in July 2019, College Station police discovered the 52 year old victim was also “shockingly dehydrated”. In October 2024, a jury convicted the niece of injuring her aunt, who could not take care of herself due to mental illness. On Tuesday (December 17), the trial judge sentenced 40 year old Latasha Nowlin of College Station to 20 and a half years in prison. Prosecutors say the victim’s weight was 60 pounds the month before she died. News release from the Brazos County district attorney’s office: Latasha Nowlin has been sentenced to 20.5 Years in Prison for neglect of a disabled person, her aunt Jacqueline Reed, which resulted in her death. Police were called out to the home of the defendant and the victim on July 14, 2019. There, police and EMS found the victim, 52 year old Jacqueline Reed, starved and shockingly dehydrated. Reed had been left principally in the care of the defendant, a home health worker with years of experience. According to the testimony of Reed’s attending physician, it is conservatively estimated that Reed had been denied any fluids for a period of at least a week if not longer. Reed had long suffered from mental illness and could not care for herself. Reed’s weight had fallen to 60lbs due to starvation. Reed would pass away the next month while in hospice care. College Station Police Department detectives conducted the investigation and interviewed the defendant. When asked what the defendant did about the smell coming from Reed’s room, the defendant said that she lit candles. Police also found towels stuffed un-der Reed’s door when they first arrived. The defendant was ultimately charged with the offense of Intentional or Knowing Serious Bodily Injury to a Disabled Person by Omission, a 1st degree felony. A Jury convicted the defendant of this offense on October 9, 2024 after a three day trial. A punishment hearing was conducted on December 17, 2024 in the 361st District Court where the defendant was sentenced to 20.5 Years in prison. The District Attorney’s Office would like to thank all Jacqueline’s healthcare workers who treated her with dignity and respect when she was finally taken to the hospital on July 14, 2019. The good work and testimony of Jacqueline’s attending physician was particularly indispensable at trial. Statement from assistant district attorney Kevin Capps: “Jacqueline suffered needlessly and profoundly due to the extreme neglect of a family member who certainly knew better. The defendant’s shocking indifference led directly to Jacqueline’s death. The defendant’s prison sentence is well justified.”
