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Flint, Michigan – An elderly White resident of an assisted living facility was brutally choked, beaten, and slapped with a soiled diaper. A heart-wrenching video of the incident revealed the suspect was her own Black caregiver, who police say now faces charges of elderly abuse, assault, and other crimes.

According to a statement by the Genesee County Sheriff’s Department, 26-year-old Dontia Shawnra Arrington allegedly assaulted a 93-year-old dementia patient at Landings, an elderly home in Flint Township. Arrington—who is Black—was said to have been caught on film violently beating the vulnerable woman, who may have targeted the victim for months prior to the incident.

The chilling footage was obtained after the victim’s family installed a nanny cam in their loved one’s room after they noticed bruises months earlier.

“Our 93-year-old victim, who has severe dementia, was assaulted by a 26-year-old female from Flint Township,” said Genesee County Sheriff Swanson in a news release. “You see the vulnerability of the victim and the fact that she’s getting hit with a 2-to-3-pound soiled diaper.”

“But if that isn’t enough when she brought her hand across her throat in a chokehold, that can kill people, especially a 93-year-old,” he continued. “This is severe dementia. (The victim) has no idea what’s going on. She can’t process what we process on a regular basis,” Swanson said.

Arrington is believed to have launched the sickening assault after the victim had an accident. The video shows what is allegedly Arrington beating the victim with a soiled diaper and even choking the helpless, wheelchair-bound woman in her room. Sheriff Swanson said investigators from Michigan’s Elder Abuse Task Force were able to use the video to bring about a case against the Black caregiver.

“I was appalled, I was disgusted and I was very angry,” said Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton. “And I said to Chief Assistant Phillips, ‘We’re going to have to charge this woman as harshly as we can.’”

For the crime, Arrington currently faces charges of vulnerable adult abuse, which in Michigan, is punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Because of the sadistic nature of the beating, Arrington also faces charges of torture with the intent to cause cruel or extreme physical or mental pain and suffering. That charge comes with a possible sentence of up to life in prison if convicted.

Additionally, Arrington is staring at up to 10 years in prison for a charge of assault with intent to cause great bodily harm less than murder or by strangulation. Despite the hefty charges, bond was set at an alarmingly low $45,000. The suspect is due back in court on April 25.

‘I’m watching and all I kept saying was, ‘My mom,’ you know? ‘Why are you doing this to my mom?’ She’s 93, 5-foot tall, a little 130-pound lady,’ said the Victim’s daughter in a press conference which showed the video. ‘Horrified. Just horrified.’ 

The nanny cam installed by the victim’s family was said to have captured not only the beating but other alleged acts of corruption going on at Landings. According to the victim’s daughter, the camera recorded evidence of theft, rough handling of the victim, and other issues. After the incident, the victim was moved to a different assisted living facility and is slowly recovering from the assault.

“My advice is to get a nanny cam,” the victim’s daughter continued. “Whether they’re in a home, whether they’re in an assisted living, or you have them in your home and someone comes in a couple hours a day to watch them, we have to protect them.”

Black Americans and other non-Whites employed as caregivers are regularly implicated in horrific acts of violence against their vulnerable wards. In August of 2023, a Black caregiver at an old folks home in Missouri City, Texas, was charged with the savage beating of a 75-year-old man, which sent him to the hospital.

According to reports, the Black suspect in that crime was hired despite a lengthy criminal history which included numerous drug charges.

In November of that same year, a 24-year-old Black caregiver was arrested for a brutal incident that led to charges of abuse of a person older than 65.

Reports state that the suspect—identified as Kassandra Aihe—hit a resident at a facility in Florida in the face with a blunt object before slamming their head against a wall. Like the case in Michigan, the incident was entirely caught on film, resulting in hefty charges.

According to the latest US Census Report, the population of minority-majority Flint, Michigan, is only 32.46% White. This grim demographic reality means that those living in this area of the Great Lake State continually reel from the ill effects of multiracial diversity, which, in Flint, stems from a burgeoning 55.74% Black population.

According to the White-Papers Policy Institute, Michigan was once the sixth-largest economy in the United States. However, over the course of a few short decades, it now ranks 17th in the nation for poverty, and 34th for personal income. WPPI believes this change of fortune came about through rapid, life-altering demographic change, which plagues not only the State of Michigan but the entire Great Lakes region.

In Troy, Michigan, a 10-year-old White girl was the victim of a brutal “hate crime” after she was targeted for violence by a Black woman at a local shopping mall. According to reports, the suspect was alleged to have laughed and walked away after she slammed the young girl’s head into the plate glass window of a Mrs. Field’s cookie chain, sparking outrage by the greater White community.

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