COLUMBIA, Md. — A caregiver charged with the responsibility of watching a nonverbal, vulnerable adult is now facing charges of her own.
Caregiver charged after leaving nonverbal adult in locked car
On Monday, a judge granted bail at $10,000 for Kymorea Lee Sanders after Howard County police arrested her over the weekend, calling her actions “dangerous.”
According to charging documents, Sanders worked as a caregiver for Richcroft, Inc. when she left a nonverbal, man with autism inside a work van in the Symphony Woods garage with the child lock on.
The windows were “barely cracked” and the temperatures that day were in the high 80s. According to father Bill Shafley, the car was parked facing the sun, and the car could have been easily been 100 degrees inside.
The issue may have never come to light had firefighters nearby not heard an alarm coming from the car.
“Only by chance was my son found,” Shafley said. “We can’t rely on chance to keep our loved ones safe.”
Shafley has been outspoken about the issue since it occurred on Thursday, July 23. His son, Will, is 31 years old but his mental age is closer to a 6-year-old.
Though his son appears not to have been physically harmed, though he does have epilepsy that could have been triggered his father notes, the damage has been done.
"When we were coming close [to the garage] he was already starting to get very nervous," Shafley explains. "In fact, the next day after that, they needed to take him to a doctor's appointment and it was the same van in the driveway.
They went to take him out, and he started screaming: 'No, no no!"
He believes it wasn’t a question of if the system would fail him, but when. There is constant turnover, and low pay, as well as concerns of retribution if families speak up if they see something that’s wrong.
Surveillance video shows Sanders eating lunch at Eggspectation, with a woman and man, identified by Shafley as a fellow Richcroft coworker and her client.
“She’s laughing in there, she’s having the greatest time. She’s in no hurry,” Shafley said. “You don’t do that unless you’re very comfortable that you’ve done this before.”
According to charging documents, the 26-year-old was “extremely uncooperative” with authorities at the scene, making excuses and refusing to answer questions.
At one point, the officer on scene asked her what the company's protocol was, and Sanders responded: "I don't know you tell me."
She claimed she had just left to use the restroom. But surveillance video shows she was gone for 57 minutes.
Sanders is now facing charges of vulnerable adult abuse and reckless endangerment. She has no prior criminal record, though she was charged for assault and battery against a family member in October 2024 that was later dropped, according to state prosecutors.
A public defender argued that Sanders no longer posed a risk to the public because she was no longer employed by Richcroft. He also claimed that Sanders was pursuing a master's degree in the field, but finances were "tight."
Following her bail hearing, a man who identified himself as Sanders’ boyfriend and father of their 4-year-old told WMAR-2 News “no comment” outside district court.
Shafley says he hopes her arrest sends a message, and commends law enforcement and the state’s attorney’s office for acting so swiftly.
“If you’re a bad caregiver, or you’re on the edge, I hope you look at this and realize you’re not going to get away with this,” Shafley said.
Meanwhile, he says this is much bigger issue than Sanders and his son. He points to the system-wide gaps that must be closed.
“We have to have better oversight. We have to have better use of technology and it has to be consistent,” he said. “These caregivers pick [him up] from his residential program; no one knows where he’s going. He’s just gone for the day... There’s no pre-planned: Here’s where we’re going, so that an app can say: ’Why is this person off target? Why are they not where they’re supposed to be?’”
We are deeply disturbed by the incident involving one of our participants who was left unattended in a vehicle. This is an unimaginable event that is completely inconsistent with the standards of care, dignity, and accountability that have guided Richcroft for more than four decades.
We took immediate action to terminate the staff involved, reported the incident to the state and are working closely with regulatory authorities and law enforcement as they investigate.
The health, safety, and well-being of the more than 350 individuals we are privileged to serve each day is, and always will be, our highest priority. We are committed to doing everything possible to support the participant and family and assist investigators.
Because this matter is under active investigation and out of respect for the participant's privacy, we're not able to discuss additional details at this time.
