One of two sisters accused of neglecting their elderly parents at a University City apartment, leading to the death of their mother, pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of murder and elder abuse.
Ingrid Wu, 52, was arrested last week along with her sister, Rebecca Wu, 53, for allegedly failing to properly care for their parents. Police and prosecutors said the women acted as caretakers for their 81-year-old mother and 89-year-old father, who could not care for themselves.
Two sisters have been arrested in connection with the death of their mother in University City, according to investigators.
Their arrests came three months after police were called to a Genesee Avenue apartment to find their mother, Kun Ying Yang, unresponsive on a pull- out couch and face first between the couch and bed frame. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Postmortem examinations determined that Yang died of positional asphyxia with contributing factors, including neglect, according to police. The manner of her death was ruled a homicide.
A declaration filed in court and authored by San Diego Police Department Officer Chelsea Ulibarri alleges that after officers responded to the apartment on March 6, the sisters spoke outside the apartment to each other in Mandarin in a conversation that was recorded on officers’ body-worn cameras.
A Mandarin-speaking SDPD officer who reviewed the videos translated the conversations, in which Ingrid Wu “stated she believed Yang had been lying in the same position for approximately 10 to 20 days and admitted she only changed Yang’s diapers and wiped her down rather than repositioning her,” the declaration states.
Ingrid Wu also said she delayed getting medical care despite seeing her mother “in distress and unable to move” on March 6, the document states. The sisters allegedly discussed seeing their mother trapped in a gap in the bed and waiting hours before contacting emergency services.
The officer wrote that the sisters told police they first saw Yang in the gap at 5:30 a.m., but didn’t call 911 until nearly midnight.
“Ingrid repeatedly stated they `should have called 911 immediately’ and acknowledged they instead waited `half a day until mom died to pick up the phone,”‘ the declaration states.
The declaration also claims the women’s father was anemic and dehydrated when emergency responders discovered him and he was hospitalized for about a month afterwards. He has since been placed in a long-term care facility and temporary restraining orders have been put in place prohibiting the sisters from contacting him, according to the declaration.
At her arraignment, a judge ruled Ingrid Wu could remain out of custody, but she had to submit to GPS monitoring, must surrender her passport to the District Attorney’s Office, and cannot leave the state without court permission.
Rebecca Wu was not arraigned because a Mandarin interpreter was not available. She’s now slated for arraignment on Tuesday.