Woman pleads guilty to patient abuse

YOUNGSTOWN — A 20-year-old Austintown woman could spend the next 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to the abuse of a nursing-home patient in 2009.

Iindia Weatherly, 20, of Staatz Drive, was charged with felony abuse of a patient after prosecutors said she was involved in an incident at a Boardman Township nursing home that left 87-year-old Donald Oliver with a broken hip. Oliver died a short time after sustaining the injury, but prosecutors said it could not be determined if the abuse and injury led to his death.

Weatherly was set to go on trial today before Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, but she accepted a plea agreement instead.

Under the terms of the agreement, Weatherly pleaded guilty to the charge, and prosecutors agreed to make no recommendation to the judge as to her sentence.

Weatherly could receive up to 18 months in prison on the fourth-degree felony charge.

For the complete story, see Tuesday's Vindicator and Vindy.com