DETROIT – A woman is facing abuse and assault charges for allegedly beating a disabled woman she was supposed to be caring for in a Detroit group home.
Kadia Konate-Dennard, 49, was arraigned Sunday on five felony charges. Her bond was set at $200,000.
A co-worker at the home recorded video of the incident on her cellphone.
The victim, Vera Gossett, has a severe form of autism and can't speak. Her mother, Jacqueline Gosset, has mobility issues and decided to move her daughter into the group home seven years ago. She said she trusted the home until she saw the cellphone video, which contains graphic content.
"It hurts, it hurts, it's painful to see my child like this," the mother said. "It's very painful."
Dominique Blade, the certified nursing assistant who shot the video, had just started working at at the group home two months prior. She said she was so disturbed by what she saw that she decided to start recording things.
"She [Konate-Dennard] told me, 'Well this is the way you have to handle her, she's an animal, you have to handle her and deal with her like this,'" Blade said.
The owner, Bartholomew Ajulufoh, has had his license revoked and it isn't the first time he's been investigated by the state. Last year he was found guilty for how another resident had been restrained.
"They failed this vulnerable woman and her family," said attorney Mark Bernstein. "And it's inexcusable."
Vera Gossett has been moved to a different home and is doing better. The other residents have also been taken out of the home.