Parsons was supposed to provide daily care for Makayla Norman, who weighed 28 pounds when she died March 1, 2011. Norman’s body was covered with filth and open bedsores, her hair and eyebrows infested with lice and her diaper hadn’t been changed for some time, according to Dayton police.
Norman couldn’t speak, move or feed herself. In all, five people were prosecuted for various crimes connected to Norman’s death, including her mother and doctor.
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Appearing Monday via video conference from the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville, Parsons said, “guilty” to two of the four counts against her from a March 2015 indictment.
The maximum Parsons could have faced would have been 10 years per count and up to a $1 million fine. Rice deferred ruling on the acceptance or denial of the plea deal until a pre-sentence report can be filed.
The federal indictment stated that Parsons, as a home health care nurse, “was responsible for providing nursing services — including, but not limited to, wound care, personal hygiene maintenance, and feeding assistance.”
Parsons was supposed to care for Norman eight hours per day, six days per week. Due to the financial status of Norman’s family, Medicaid agreed to pay for medical treatment, but required health care providers to submit “truthful and accurate information” detailing the specific services rendered.
The indictment said Parsons repeatedly submitted “false and fraudulent representations” to Medicaid and “fraudulent nursing care notes that falsely documented fictitious service” to make up for when Parsons allegedly was not at Norman’s residence.
In 2012, Parsons pleaded guilty to state charges in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court. At sentencing, Judge Mary Katherine Huffman told Parsons that her serving only 10 years in prison was a “travesty of justice.”
A Dayton police detective said daily records kept by Parsons indicated Norman was in good health with no problems and had been fed when Parsons left at 10 p.m. the day she died.
Two minutes later, Norman’s mother called 911 and said her daughter was having difficulty breathing. Norman was rushed to Children’s Medical Center of Dayton, where she died at 10:30 p.m., the detective said.
Federal prosecution began in 2013 with the indictment coming in 2015 that alleged Parsons of aiding and abetting others in a scheme to defraud Medicaid and taxpayers from 2009 to 2011.
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