The plea agreement for Katrina Michelle Hoelscher was consummated Friday when prosecutor Nelson Barnes and defense attorney Michael White met in advance of Monday's trial date.
Barnes said both sides agreed that the details of the case were "horrific."
Speaking about Ms. Hoelscher, he said, "she didn't want that result, but she's got to live with what she caused. She didn't follow through with what she owed her mom. She had accepted the care of her mother, had the opportunity to put her mother into a care facility, and chose not to do that."
Ms. Hoelscher's aunt, Rosemary Hockensmith, who lives outside of Louisville, Ky., expressed sadness about the situation.
"I'm sorry about it," she said. "I don't know if there was anything else that we could have done."
The case began in late January as a call about an elderly person dying at home. Four months later, after an investigation by the Temple Police Department that included an autopsy, it turned into a murder indictment.
The autopsy on Nell Lorine Hoelscher supported suspicions police had when responding to the call, Assistant District Attorney Paul McWilliams said in May. It indicated she died of malnourishment and medical neglect.
The two-paragraph indictment accused the younger Hoelscher of neglecting the needs of her mother, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease for several years and had moved in with her daughter after her condition worsened, Ms. Hockensmith said in May.
"It's a pure neglect case," Barnes said. "The cause of death was medical neglect."
"She obviously needed daily care," McWilliams said in May about the mother.
Ms. Hoelscher made the call notifying authorities that her mother had died. She must spend at least 11½ years in prison before being eligible for parole.
Ms. Hoelscher did not have a prior criminal record, Barnes said.
promer@temple-telegram.com
