Severe neglect led to death, charges leveled against Lawton woman

A Lawton woman was charged for allegations she didn’t take proper care of the aunt whose Social Security check paid for her bills.

The woman died from lack of care, according to the investigator.

Jennie Brisby, 38, made her initial appearance Wednesday in Comanche County District Court where she received a felony charge of abuse, neglect or financial exploitation by caretaker, records indicate. The crime is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and/or a fine up to $10,000.

Lawton Police Detective Abe Woelfel began investigating the case after Brisby took her aunt to the Lawton Indian Hospital on Feb. 8. The woman weighed 46 pounds and had open wounds to her body as well as being covered in lice and bed bugs, the probable cause affidavit states. The woman was transferred to OU Medical in Oklahoma City for a higher level of care and arrived with wounds to her buttocks that were unstageable.

The woman was discharged on April 2 and moved to a Lawton care facility where she died on April 15. The cause of death was identified as from severe malnutrition (immediate cause), congestive heart failure and alcohol abuse, the affidavit states.

Woelfel interviewed Brisby on Oct. 30. Brisby said she had been the woman’s legal guardian since 2020 and the elder woman suffered from dementia, Woelfel stated. Brisby said that since Christmas 2023, the woman suffered noticeable weight loss and couldn’t retain anything she ate resulting in her wearing diapers, according to the affidavit.

Brisby admitted she thought the woman’s dramatic weight loss was an emergency and she needed to go to the hospital, the investigator stated. When asked why she didn’t take her, Brisby responded, “There’s no reason” and admitted she wasn’t aware of the woman’s sores and had neglected in caring for the woman, the affidavit states. She admitted that if she’d done things differently and taken the woman for medical care sooner she could have lived longer, Woelfel stated.

Brisby said she should have put the woman in a nursing home and admitted she’d been using the woman’s Social Security check to pay household bills, according to the affidavit.

Free on $15,000 bond, Brisby returns to court at 3:30 p.m. Feb. 6, 2025, for her preliminary hearing.