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Dallas Morning News:

A Collin County judge on Thursday sentenced a Wylie woman to 12 years in prison for denying food and medical care to her mother, who weighed just 54 pounds when she died.

The judge sentenced her husband to six months in county jail, followed by eight years' probation.

"This is an extraordinarily terrible case," state District Judge John Roach Jr. told the couple before sentencing. "It saddens me. It disgusts me. Your mother wasn't an animal, although in the end you treated her like one."

The Collin County medical examiner's office ruled that Cynthia Burns died of natural causes from pneumonia. But prosecutors alleged that her living conditions and physical state contributed to her death.

A jury earlier Thursday convicted Christina Gaines, 36, of intentionally or knowingly causing serious bodily injury to a disabled person, a first-degree felony punishable by five to 99 years in prison.

The same jury found her husband, 37-year-old Gary Gaines, guilty of a lesser charge of recklessly causing serious bodily injury to a disabled person, a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in prison.

Burns, 58, was found dead in her bed by paramedics responding to a 911 call on April 27, 2009. They testified that the 5-foot-5-inch woman was just skin and bones, and an overwhelming smell of urine permeated the house. Her nightgown, bedding and the carpet around the bed were soiled.

Christina and Gary Gaines each testified before sentencing. They pleaded for mercy, asking the judge to give them probation instead of prison. They said they needed to care for their 12-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son.

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John Teakell, a criminal defense attorney in Dallas and former federal prosecutor, was not involved in the case but said the different sentences are likely because of the degrees of culpability because of their roles in the household. Christina Gaines was her mother's primary caregiver, according to testimony at trial.

"It appears that the sentences are based upon the perception that she was more responsible than him, that she had the opportunity to take more action," Teakell said.

Dallas White Collar Criminal Defense John Teakell in the Dallas Morning News

One meal a day

In a police interview played for the jury, Christina Gaines said that she told her mother she was starting to look like a Holocaust victim. But Gaines said when she tried to help, her mother often put up a fight and refused to see a doctor. Burns hadn't had medical care in years, testimony showed.

Under questioning from Glover, the couple said they couldn't adequately explain why they didn't feed Burns more or seek medical care for her. Toward the end of her life, Gary Gaines testified, they gave her only an evening meal.

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http://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/headlines/20110519-wylie-woman-gets-12-years-for-mothers-death-in-extraordinarily-terrible-neglect-case.ece

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