Redwood City, CA - On whom do you rely? I mean, if everything in your life were to fall apart and you needed someone to help you when you were no longer able to help yourself, who would you turn to? For me, it would be family. Whether I needed a loan or a place to stay, there are a number of people who I know would help out, whether or not they’d be happy about it!
Amelia Ramirez knows no such comfort. Amelia is a 58-year-old woman with the mental capacity of a 5-to-8-year-old.  Her loving and devoted brother and sister took her in and promised to take care of her, but it seems as if they forgot how vulnerable she is somewhere along the way. Well, that, and they liked getting her monthly disabilty checks quite a bit.
It all started when police received a call on November 18 about a teenager brandishing at knife at a home on MacArthur Avenue. While police were taking a look around, they happened upon Amelia Ramirez in the backyard, shivering in a thin nightgown. She had trouble answering their questions, but it turns out that while Bertha Cano Lozano, 45, and her brother Jesus Cano Ramirez, 53, were living in their 3-bedroom house with their 7 pit bulls and Bertha’s 16-year-old daughter (she of knife-brandishing fame), Amelia was living on the dirty, concrete floor of an 8-by-12 foot shed in their back yard. That’s the shed up in the picture at the top. Looks comfy, no?
She had a single mattress on the floor, one thin blanket, a lamp, and a small heater with a frayed cord.  What she did NOT have were running water, a TV, a radio, books, etc. It was pretty much one mentally-incapacitated woman left to rot in a shed.  The family claims she was happy out there, and that she had a Barbie doll and a coloring book for entertainment. I know that would make me ever-so-much happier in that situation, and I’m sure Amelia would have expressed her appreciation if only she had the mental capacity to do so.
Apparently, Amelia has been living in that shed for 20 years. Yes, that’s T-W-E-N-T-Y years.  And in a surprising twist, her siblings have been cashing and keeping Amelia’s monthly Social Security checks the whole time. Furthermore, the prosecution contends that the theft extended to her share of the home which the three siblings equally inherited and from which she was excluded.   A nurse argued at a hearing on December 3 that Amelia Ramirez does not have the mental capacity to understand the theft of her benefits or inheritance.  Doesn’t it warm the cockles of your heart this holiday season? I’m not entirely sure what cockles are, but mine are all atingle.
Bertha Cano Lozano and big brother Jesus Cano Ramirez have both been charged with elder neglect. Bertha has also been charged with embezzlement of an elder by a caretaker. Both have pleaded not guilty to all charges, and remain in custody in lieu of $250,000 bail. They appeared in court on December 3, where the defense argued that their crimes were being overblown, as they did not participate in activity likely to produce great bodily injury or death. The smart judge saw it otherwise, and declined to lower bail or drop any charges. Both are scheduled to return to court December 18 to enter a Superior Court plea and set a trial date.
Amelia is in the care of Adult Protective Services. I hope the strangers responsible for her will see that she gets some warm clothes, a proper bed, and a little TLC, since her family never did.
Tags: Elder Abuse
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