Police: Parents charged after MontCo man with cerebral palsy starved to death

Law enforcement officials, on Tuesday, announced charges against the parents and a former caregiver of a 21-year-old man with cerebral palsy after he died of starvation due to neglect.

Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele and Upper Dublin Township Police Chief Francis Wheatley announced the arrests of Sherrilynn Hawkins, 42, of Dresher, and Loretta Harris, 45, of Philadelphia for their alleged roles in the death of Hawkins' son, Tylim Hatchett, 21, who died on Sept. 18, 2024.

Officials said the victim's father, Vernon Hatchett, 39, of Glenside, has also been charged in this case, though he remains at-large.

All three have been charged with neglect following the death of Tylim Hatchett, who Steele said was blind, non-verbal and used a wheelchair in addition to having cerebral palsy.

Hawkins, the victim's mother, officials said, has been charged with murder, theft by deception and related offenses while, Vernon Hatchett has been charged with involuntary manslaughter.

Harris, officials said, has also been charged with theft by deception.

According to police, the incident that led to these charges unfolded at about 7:50 p.m. on Sept. 18, when Upper Dublin police officials were called to an apartment complex in Dresher on a report of an unresponsive person.

Here, officials said in a statement on this case, officers found Tylim Hatchett "severely emaciated and lying on the floor."

Also at the scene, officials said, the victim's father, Vernon Hatchett told officers that he found his son at about 6 p.m. -- about two hours before he called 9-1-1.

The younger Hatchett was pronounced at the scene and, officials said, an autopsy revealed that his death was due to complications of Cerebral Palsy in the setting of neglect and was ruled a homicide.

"Sometimes the depravity of this and what we do is shocking and unfortunately we’re here to report on one of those cases here today," Steele said as he discussed this case on Tuesday.

In a statement, law enforcement officials said that a follow up investigation found that, "from February 2024 to Sept. 18, 2024, Tylim Hatchett had lost 31 pounds, dropping from 91 pounds to 59 pounds in approximately seven months."

"He was nonverbal, he was blind and wheelchair bound which made him dependent on caregivers for feeding, bathing and mobility," Steele said. "The victim was not provided food and water and was left alone for long, long periods of time where he starved to death."

According to police officials, an investigation also found that Hawkins and Harris were both receiving money and submitting hours to Aveanna Healthcare to be compensated for time, even though they were not caring for Tylim Hatchett.

Officials said that, a review of cell phone records found that the women involved in this case clocked in and submitted hours for payment at times they were not actively with the victim, leaving him alone for upwards of 24 hours at a time.

In fact, in September alone, officials said, Tylim Hatchett was left in the apartment by himself for 356 of 425 hours between Sept. 1 and Sept. 18th, when he died.

Officials said that means he was alone 82% of the time within those 18 days.

Also, as Tylim Hatchett was unable to provide medication for himself, his medical records found through Aveanna Healthcare listed several medications he was meant to take daily, officials said.

Police officials claim an investigation revealed that Harris had not provided him any medications when she visited.

Finally, throughout the month of September, police claim Hawkins messaged Vernon Hatchett multiple times about their son’s deteriorating health yet she continued to leave him alone without providing him with any food or medicine.

In a statement, a representative of Aveanna Healthcare said the company has safeguards in place in an effort to prevent the kind of abuse that police allege occured in this case.

"Aveanna has well-established policies in place to ensure that authorized care is provided, with a robust compliance program that satisfies the prescribed oversight as defined by state regulators. We use technology and other means to validate the delivery of that care, and our supervisory measures meet the requirements defined by state regulators," a representative said in a statement shared with NBC10. "The Company has and continues to cooperate with all investigations into this matter."

Hawkins was arraigned at 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 31, 2024 and her preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 10, 2025. Harris was set to be arraigned on Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024.

Also, officials said, there is an active warrant out for Vernon Hatchett’s arrest.