HOUSTON – Bond was set at $50,000 for a caregiver accused of beating her disabled patient to death and using the woman's government assistance for her own financial gain.
Patrici Devonne Reader, 48, has been charged with murder in the death of Maria Fuentes.
Fuentes died in 2014, but Reader was not officially charged until earlier this month.
Fuentes, who was physically and mentally disabled, was rushed to the hospital on Nov.14, 2014, covered from head to toe in bruises and suffering from multiple internal injuries.
According to investigators, the only way she could have sustained those injuries was at the hands of Reader, who admitted to being the woman's sole provider.
Emergency crews who responded to Fuentes' home on Nov. 14 transported Fuentes to Willowbrook Hospital, but due to the severity of her injuries, the woman had to be airlifted to Memorial Hermann Hospital, where she died.
When the hospital staff questioned Reader about Fuentes' injuries, she became defensive and left the hospital, according to court documents.
An autopsy revealed bruises all over the victim's body; Doctors found bruises in several stages of healing on her legs, groin area, arms, stomach, breast, chest, neck, face and head. There was also a laceration under her nostrils, and abrasions on her chest, neck and head. Her ribs were also fractured.
In addition to those bruises, records show Fuentes' had a ruptured pancreas and also suffered blunt force brain and head trauma.
Fuentes' death was ruled a homicide. A doctor reported in records that she suffered ongoing physical abuse and died a painful death.
Reader claimed Fuentes sustained the injuries during a series of falls the week before, but doctors concluded that her story was not consistent with the findings and the evidence of brutality.
Investigators also learned that Reader received the disabled woman's social security and food stamps. She told police she received those benefits as a form of payment.