A Dickson City woman is accused of involuntary manslaughter after allowing her severely disabled daughter “rot,” according to Lackawanna County District Attorney Brian Gallagher.
Christina Harvey, 50, also faces felony charges of ineglecting a care dependent person and endangering the welfare of a child.
On Dec. 10, 2025, Dickson City police were called to 706 Carmalt St. for the report of an unresponsive 18-year-old as emergency medical personnel were administering CPR.
Officers arriving at the scene were overwhelmed with the filth and smell of the residence, they noted that a couch in the living room was covered in fill and sunken in to its based.
What appeared to be human feces was smeared on the wall behind the couch and they noted flies throughout the house, police said.
Dickson City Police Officer John Wilson learned that Brandy Harvey had suffered a massive stroke at eleven months of age. She was non-verbal, was legally blind and had seizures.
According to the criminal complaint, Christina Harvey admitted to officers her daughter had not eaten for several days because she was ill.
She was taken to Geisinger Community Medical Center were medical personnel noted her extremely poor condition, including bedsores, bruising, ulcers and rotted teeth. Her feet and toes appeared black and necrotic.
Brandy Harvey died the next day.
“When someone is entrusted with the care of a vulnerable person—someone who cannot speak for themselves, cannot see for themselves and cannot protect themselves—that responsibility is absolute, Gallagher said in a release. “To abandon that duty and allow a special needs person to suffer, deteriorate, and ultimately die under such deplorable conditions is as disturbing as it is criminal.”
“For a parent to allow their child to suffer and rot like this is unconscionable. My thoughts and prayers are with this young woman; may she finally be at peace.”
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