From WOWT-TV in Omaha:An Omaha woman was found guilty Feb. 24 of abuse of a vulnerable adult resulting in the death of her daughter.
Prosecutors alleged Cherie Harbour’s wheelchair-bound daughter Tawnisha was intentionally locked inside her bedroom with no way to escape. One door was tied shut with a bed sheet while another was missing the door knob.
When their house caught fire last June 21st, prosecutors say Tawnisha was unable to escape and no one else was home to help her get out.
"The mother unreasonably confined, we felt, Tawnisha, and then left her for eight hours," said Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine.
Tawnisha suffered burns over 30-percent of her body and died nine days later of pneumonia."In this case we had a person who was unquestionably a vulnerable adult and we felt was being unreasonably confined and everyone knows what that circumstance led to,” said Kleine.
The fire started inside her bedroom. Although the cause is still unknown, defense attorney Bill Pfeffer believes Tawnisha started it.
"I think she was trying to get attention or trying to cause trouble or she was upset that she was home alone or maybe she was just mad at the world that day. Who knows what was going through her mind? But the mother didn't do that, the mother didn't knowingly and intentionally cause her harm."
Pfeffer claimed Tawnisha had a history of wandering out of the home and this was nothing more than an accident. "It's horrible and it's a tragic accident, but Cherie Harbour didn't cause it and that statute just doesn't seem to fit this case and that's our problem."
The defense also said Tawnisha was able to get out on her own, but did not. "Cherie Harbour loved her daughter, she wasn't punishing her daughter, she wasn't trying to hurt her daughter, she didn't know, nobody knew that a fire was going to start that day," said Pfeffer.
For Harbour to be found guilty, she had to knowingly and intentionally cause harm, which Judge Patricia Lamberty said she did by unreasonable confinement.
The prosecution feels the verdict is justice for Tawnisha. "I think the law is, at its upmost, to protect people that are most vulnerable, whether it's children, vulnerable adults like Tawnisha and certainly the people who are caregivers have a duty and responsibility there and the law provides for that," said Kleine.
Harbour remains out on bond and will be sentenced on May 5th. She faces up to five years in prison. Pfeffer said an appeal will be filed.
