June 14--A 49-year-old Evanston woman was in court Saturday after being accused of neglecting her elderly mother.
Judge James Brown released Margaret M. Flaherty, of the 2700 block of Hampton Parkway in the north suburb, on her own recognizance during a hearing Saturday at the Leighton Criminal Court building.
Flaherty, charged with felony neglect of the elderly, was wearing a long, untucked, light-colored short-sleeved shirt, dark pants and gym shoes and did not say anything audible in court.
Prosecutors said the neglect happened from September 2014 through May 31 when Flaherty lived with her now-78-year-old mother and was supposed to be her caretaker.
Flaherty "knowingly failed to provide hygiene, nutrition, prescribed medication, and medical care and treatment to maintain her mother's health, causing the victim's pre-existing physical health to deteriorate," according to a complaint in the court files.
In court, prosecutors said she did not give her mother a bath or change her sheets in several days, and her mother dropped in weight to 80 pounds and was unable to walk.
On May 15, another family member contacted authorities, prosecutors said.
Flaherty is slated to appear in court again at the Skokie Courthouse on June 16.
