Woman charged with elder abuse in mother's death

LEXINGTON, Mo. -- A Lexington woman was charged Wednesday with elder abuse after her 85-year-old mother was found dead on the living room floor of the home the two shared.

Suzanne H. Skrzelewski, 56, was charged in Lafayette County after police on Sunday found Longina Skrzelewski, who had Alzheimer's disease, lying in her own waste and covered with a sleeping bag.

Suzanne Skrzelewski is accused of failing to seek adequate medical attention for her mother, letting her lie in her own urine and feces, and failing to attend to her daily needs.

Court records show that the daughter told police her mother had been lying on the floor for about a month, and that "she could not move Longina to assist her in using the rest room so she placed newspapers under her body and changed them when they became soiled."

"I can't say I've seen anything like this that anybody has ever actually lived in," Lafayette County Prosecutor Page Bellamy said. "This was despicable."

Suzanne Skrzelewski was being held on $50,000 bond in Lafayette County Jail.