A Texan lady languishes in custody subsequent to employing an assistive apparatus for the infirm to asphyxiate and demise her octogenarian mother, as per authorities.
Suzette Annette Kefauver, aged 59, stands indicted for a singular charge of homicide regarding the recent passing of Vivian Norwood Kefauver, aged 80, as delineated in a Harris County criminal affidavit procured by Law&Crime.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office reports that the instrument employed to perpetrate the homicide was a gait belt — a commercially available product customarily utilized to aid individuals with ambulatory challenges in movement, standing, or transferring between a bed and a wheelchair.
On the 17th of November, a deputy was summoned to the Kefauver domicile on Forest Knoll Drive in Houston. At that location, a neighbor was administering CPR to the victim, as per the 911 caller. The deputy arrived to discover EMS personnel endeavoring CPR — wherein a supervisor from the emergency medical team remarked that Vivian Kefauver exhibited “bruising and erythema” on her “cervical region,” according to the affidavit. Subsequently, the victim was transported to a medical facility, where she expired.
Allegedly, Suzette Kefauver apprised a deputy that her mother “was situated in the living space reclining on the divan imbibing a Boost shake.”
Subsequently, purportedly, the daughter stated she exited the area for approximately five to ten minutes. Upon her return, she found her mother “seated on the floor reclining against the sofa,” per the affidavit.
Reportedly, Suzette Kefauver stated she was uncertain whether her mother was still respiring.
Following this, the sheriff’s office asserts she made a significant disclosure.
“[T]he Defendant affirmed there was no altercation between [her mother] and her and she declared the abrasions on [her mother’s] neck were not resultant of mistreatment,” the affidavit reads. “This declaration was unsolicited.”
Suzette Kefauver purportedly informed a deputy that she had been tending to her mother for approximately a year and that they resided alone in the residence without any formal caregivers involved.
Subsequently, the accused woman purportedly provided a detailed account of the occurrence believed to have led to her mother’s demise.
“The Defendant declared she departed the area to stow away towels and upon her return, [her mother] was seated on the floor with her legs extended away from the sofa and reclining against the sofa,” the affidavit reads. “The Defendant claimed she endeavored to raise her mother by her ‘cervix’ and reinstate her on the sofa. The Defendant asserted she attempted this several times for several minutes and then endeavored to employ the gait belt to elevate her. The Defendant articulated that subsequent to several additional endeavors to raise her mother she realized she might not be respiring.”
Following this, Suzette Kefauver purportedly expressed that she sought assistance from her neighbor. Subsequently, the duo endeavored to elevate her mother — to no avail.
The neighbor corroborated certain aspects of the narrative — stating they endeavored to raise the deceased woman onto the sofa with the belt but were unsuccessful. Eventually, the neighbor attested, she persuaded the daughter to summon 911. However, when the 911 dispatcher instructed her to execute CPR on her mother, Suzette Kefauver declined, as per the neighbor's account, according to authorities. Consequently, the neighbor performed CPR until emergency responders arrived.
Significantly, the neighbor apprised law enforcement about an unprompted assertion she purportedly overheard Suzette Kefauver make. Per the affidavit, the neighbor disclosed that Suzette Kefauver volunteered that she did not harm her “momma” and that the marks on her neck were not attributable to “mistreatment.”
During a subsequent police interrogation on November 18th, she was directly queried whether she ever utilized the gait belt to endeavor to raise her mother by the neck. Allegedly, she responded in the negative.
However, the prosecution contends that’s precisely what transpired with Vivian Kefauver.
“The state notes that a white ligature mark believed to be caused by a gait belt was observed in the anterior aspect of the complainant’s neck,” a prosecutor apprised a judge on Tuesday, according to a courtroom report by Houston-based ABC affiliate KTRK.
Suzette Kefauver is presently detained on a $1 million bond. Her next appearance in court is scheduled for Monday.
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