WINNIPEG — A Winnipeg man who left his 89-year-old mother on the floor of their home, covered in her own feces and urine until she died, is scheduled to be sentenced today.
Ronald Siwicki, a local musician, pleaded guilty in January to criminal negligence causing the death of his mother Elizabeth, who suffered from dementia.
Court was told the mother fell out of bed in November 2014, couldn't get up, and was left in that spot for more than three weeks.
Siwicki cried in court last month as he said he was his mother's caregiver and she did not want to go to a hospital.
An autopsy found that his mother suffered bed sores so severe, they went down to her bones and were the cause of her death.
The Crown is asking for a 35-month sentence, while the defence wants a suspended sentence with probation.
Siwicki told court last month he lived with his parents his entire life, wasn't allowed to leave town, and his mother discouraged romantic relationships.
After his father and sister died in a hospital, he said he promised his mother she could die at home, but was not equipped to deal with her declining health.
Siwicki said he tried to care for his mother by giving her nutritional supplement drinks and water. He waited until his mother died before he tried to clean her or call an ambulance.
There was so much human waste around her that the carpet underneath had buckled, court was told.
