Police in South Australia are investigating whether the death of a Port Augusta woman with significant physical and intellectual disabilities is the result of criminal neglect. The 26-year-old woman died in hospital on Monday after falling from a chair in her home late last week.
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00:00Paramedics were actually called to the home on Monday with reports that the woman had
00:09fallen from a chair and her mother wasn't able to put her back in the chair.
00:16They said the house was squalid and they found the woman to be in a serious medical condition
00:23and she also had significant infected wounds.
00:28And so on top of that, police also made the point that she had serious underlying health
00:35issues.
00:36So paramedics took her to the Port Augusta Hospital in a serious condition, however her
00:42condition deteriorated overnight and she was flown to the Royal Adelaide Hospital the following
00:48day.
00:49However, her condition still remained the same and she died on Monday evening.
00:56Detective Desmond Bray also made the point that major crime have launched the investigation
01:05into the matter and they set that investigation up the day after she was taken to hospital
01:11in Port Augusta.
01:14There's significant indicators present in the investigation at this stage of criminal
01:18neglect but it's unclear at this stage whether that criminal neglect caused the death or
01:25whether the death was caused by serious underlying health issues.
01:30And so the officer there mentioning this, authorities are investigating if there has
01:33been criminal neglect, did they give further details of what they're looking at?
01:38Yeah, that's right.
01:39So I mean you saw he mentioned that there were serious underlying health conditions,
01:44she had physical and intellectual disabilities.
01:47However, Detective Bray also made the point that she required ongoing care and support,
01:55however there was not any NDIS, she was not an NDIS participant and that police have been
02:02unable to identify whether a care plan was in place for her.
02:07He also made the point that the house was squalid and not fit for habitation.
02:13They say they've been in touch with a doctor and they have her medical records that they
02:20are looking into at the moment.
02:22And is there anyone of interest in the investigations?
02:27The woman was in the full-time care of her mother, they were the only ones that were
02:32living in the Port Augusta house, however police were very specific in saying that they
02:39are looking into anyone who this woman was in the care of.
02:46And he also made the point that this investigation is expected to be a very lengthy one.