No prison for 2 Rock Hill sisters after their 99-year-old mother died in ‘horrific’ state
A York County judge sentenced two Rock Hill sisters to probation without any prison time after their 99-year-old mother died from severe neglect, resulting in bedsores and malnutrition.
Judge Dan Hall said Martha Carroll Rutledge, 74, and Nancy Cameron Rutledge, 69, should not go to prison for neglect of a vulnerable adult, despite prosecutors and police saying Martha Rutledge, their mother, died in a “horrific” state in the summer of 2023.
Rock Hill police originally charged both with neglect of a vulnerable adult resulting in death, which carries up to 30 years prison for a conviction. The sisters pleaded guilty Tuesday in York County criminal court at the Moss Justice Center to simple neglect of a vulnerable adult, which carries up to five years prison.
Prosecutors and lawyers for the sisters struck a plea deal after an autopsy said it was “unclear if intentional neglect contributed to the death,” testimony showed Tuesday.
Hall gave each sister one year probation after they admitted neglect.
Hall acknowledged Martha Rutledge’s death is a “sad case” but said neither daughter is a danger to the community.
“They have admitted it and leave here with a criminal record,” Hall said.
Neither sister had a prior criminal past, and they lived with and cared for their parents for decades before their deaths. However, their mother had bone infections and other ailments at the time of her death, and the two daughters didn’t seek medical help despite her condition, testimony showed.
Martha Carroll Rutledge said in court her mother previously had bedsores after falls before her death but she previously had been able to nurse her back to health.
“I thought this time I would be able to get her healed,” she told Hall.
Hall said the older Martha Rutledge was “very likely a strong-willed mother” who wanted independence up until the end of her life.
Hall cited the emotional and physical toll in taking care of elderly parents and telling them what to do.
‘Horrific condition’
Police and prosecutors said Martha Rutledge weighed an emaciated 74 pounds at the time of her death on Aug. 14, 2023. She had open sores on her body, and bones were exposed on her hip and back.
“The defendants allowed her to be in a horrific condition,” 16th Circuit Deputy Solicitor John Anthony told Judge Hall. Anthony took no position on sentencing after telling the judge the autopsy could not prove neglect was the manner of death.
Rock Hill Police Department detective Tayler Englert said Martha Rutledge had a blood alcohol level of .105 and had THC — a chemical found in marijuana — in her system at the time of her death.
“This is one of the most awful cases I have ever had to work,” Englert told Judge Hall.
Defense: Sisters in ‘over their heads’
The sisters’ lawyers said in court they were in “over their heads” when it came to caring for their mother holistically at the end of her life. They asked for probation for each sister.
“These two women tried the best they could to take care of a mother who did not want traditional medical treatment,” said Harry Dest, Nancy Rutledge’s attorney.
Leland Greeley, Martha Carroll Rutledge’s lawyer, said the sisters cared for their mother for years through the end of her life, including the day of death.
“This is not putting someone out in a shed and leaving them,” Greeley told Judge Hall.
Three of Rock Hill’s most well-known lawyers who are lifelong friends of the Rutledge family — Jim Morton, Jim Boyd and Joe Raad — each told Judge Hall the sisters were loving caregivers. Boyd said in court there are difficulties handling elderly parents at the end of their lives.
“Neither of them would do anything to purposefully neglect their mother,” Boyd said.
