Conestoga Township man charged with causing infirm woman’s death through severe neglect
A Conestoga Township man has been charged with causing the death of his infirm girlfriend by severely neglecting her.
Ronald Louis Bender, of the 7400 block of River Road, was charged with neglect of a care-dependent person, endangering the welfare of a care-dependent person, and involuntary manslaughter.
Bender, 60, is accused of leaving 62-year-old Carolyn Trimble-Weber in deplorable conditions at her residence in the 500 block of Lancaster Pike in Providence Township prior to her death in September 2024.
Had proper care been provided, two doctors told investigators, Trimble-Weber’s outcome could have been different.
Trimble-Weaver had been physically weakened and largely nonverbal for the previous five years, which led to Bender quitting his job to care for her full-time as her sole caretaker. When Trimble-Weber’s condition took a turn for the worst she was taken to a hospital, where medical examiners discovered numerous open and infected wounds along with dead skin and exposed flesh on her body before she died there on Sept. 10, 2024.
First responders who had transported Trimble-Weber to the hospital noted in their records that she was found with multiple layers of dead skin while on a foul-smelling and dirty bed covered in multiple soiled pads on a stained mattress. An EMT who responded to the residence told investigators it had appeared as if Trimble-Weber hadn’t been bathed in a month.
Bender was also unable to answer any medical questions to first responders despite telling them he was Trimble-Weber’s full-time care provider, the EMT told police.
In an interview with police Bender said Trimble-Weber had not visited a doctor since 2019 due to the difficulty of placing her in a vehicle. Instead, Bender said, all of Trimble-Weber’s doctors’ appointments were done virtually, with himself mainly speaking on her behalf.
A doctor who had treated Trimble-Weber over the phone told police he had urged Bender to take her to a hospital during their final appointment together nearly seven months before her death. Bender never brought up any of Trimble-Weber’s new health concerns during that appointment, the doctor told police.
