Airionna's mum, Becky Bent-Weible, left her in the Eubanks' care after her daughter turned 18 and visited her weekly. Photo / Becky Bent-Weible / KCCI
Airionna's mum, Becky Bent-Weible, left her in the Eubanks' care after her daughter turned 18 and visited her weekly. Photo / Becky Bent-Weible / KCCI
A couple caring for a disabled teenager drenched her in a bathtub full of bleach and Epsom salt, court records show.
Katrina, 51, and Garry Eubanks, 55, from Urbandale, Iowa, have been accused of bathing Airionna Bent, 19, in harsh chemicals that caused burns so bad finger marks could beseen on her skin after touching her, KCCI reported.
Bent was born prematurely and suffers from cerebral palsy, so she cannot speak and is fed through a tube. Her mum, Becky Bent-Weible, left her in the Eubanks' care after she turned 18 and visits her weekly.
"I called her [Katrina] Airionna's other mother, I thought we were friends," Bent-Weible said.
On May 28, Garry and Katrina Eubanks - who was hired by Mosaic, a company that offers care for the disabled - bathed Airionna in the harsh chemicals and caused 'severe burns all over her body', court records show.
The Eubanks waited until June 1, five days later, before sending her to the hospital, it is claimed. According to court records they took her out of state to the Wesley Chapel Hospital in Florida, apparently because Katrina's sister-in-law worked as a nurse there.
They had informed a former Mosaic employee about their plans to take her to hospital in Florida but their confidant called the police, according to court records.
Katrina, 51, (left) and Garry Eubanks, 55, (right) from Urbandale, Iowa, allegedly drenched a disabled woman in a bathtub full of bleach and Epsom salt. Photo / KCCI
"Garry described... how Bent was crying and screaming in pain and that the injuries were so bad that you could see fingerprint impressions on Bent's skin if someone touched her," the court documents revealed.
Mosaic informed Airionna's mother, who then called Katrina, urging her to return her daughter immediately, the Daily Mail reported.
Upon her arrest, Katrina - who her husband described as being "frantic" when they realized how badly Airionna was hurt - allegedly said it had been an accident.
Her burns were so bad that when someone touched Airionna, their finger prints showed on her skin, court documents say. Photo / KCCI
"She didn't know the injuries were that bad or that the bath water was that hot," court records state Katrina said.
"It was like acid on wounds," mother-of-three Bent-Weible said. "If it had been an accident, they would have gone to a hospital immediately... they let my daughter suffer."
Airionna was then transferred back to a hospital in Iowa, where she's healing from her third degree burns.
Police say the Eubanks waited five days before sending her to hospital. Airionna is pictured with her father (left) and mother (right) at a hospital in Iowa. Photo / KCCI / Becky Bent-Weible
Police found a large bottle of Aloe Vera - typically used to soothe wounds - in the Eubanks' car and bleach as well as Epsom salt in their bathroom.
The pair will later be taken to Iowa and will be charged with kidnapping and neglect and may face up to life in prison.
The couple passed a background check before they were allowed to care for Airionna.
