Two caretakers in Iowa are accused of washing a teenage disabled woman in a dangerous mix of bleach and epsom salts, causing third degree burns.
Court documents show that Katrina Eubanks, 50, and her husband Garry Eubanks, 54, put 19-year-old Airionna Bent into a bathtub with the chemicals, casing burns all over her body and intense pain. Ms Bent is unable to speak, and is severely disabled.
Ms Bent is frequently cared for by the Eubanks, and her mother says that she is surprised that they would harm her daughter like that. Becky Bent-Weible, the mother, says that she placed a lot of trust in Ms Eubanks.
“I called her Airionna’s other mother”, Ms Bent-Weible told local media in Urbandale. “I felt like we were friends”.
The couple was given caretaker responsibilities by a local company that provides services for adults with intellectual disabilities. Their applications to work for the company involved background checks, which both reportedly passed.
The Eubanks didn’t immediately take Ms Bent to the hospital, and instead decided to try and take her to Florida for care. They were arrested there on Iowa warrants for charges of kidnapping, neglect, and abandonment of a dependent person.
Ms Bent was then taken to the hospital, where she was treated for second and third degree burns. The burns were reportedly so bad that investigators could see fingerprint imprints after touching her skin.
Bleach baths are frequently cited in online forums as potential home remedies to a variety of skin ailments, however it was not immediately clear why the Eubanks may have put the 19-year-old in the bath.
A crowd funding page has been set up to help the family with the medical bills here.
