Tristen Brewer

Authorities allege a 23-year-old woman neglected and exploited a 69-year-old Meeteetse man earlier this year, leading him to be hospitalized in July.

Tristen M. Brewer was arrested earlier this month on two felony counts.

In one charge, the Park County Attorney’s Office alleges that Brewer failed to provide “the minimum food, shelter, physical health care and other care as necessary to maintain the vulnerable adult life and health,” saying that “may have resulted in a life-threatening situation.” In the other charge, prosecutors allege that Brewer “intentionally and recklessly exploited” the man by misusing his money and failing to buy him food and pay his bills.

When authorities arranged for the man to be taken to Cody Regional Health on July 1, medical professionals found he was dehydrated, malnourished and had bed sores, dirty clothes and very poor hygiene; his fingernails had grown so long that they had reached and punctured one of his palms and he’d lost a significant amount of weight, authorities say.

During a preliminary hearing last week, Brewer’s court-appointed attorney, Scott Kath, argued that it was unclear whether his client was responsible for the man’s wellbeing or if that responsibility fell to others.

However, Park County Circuit Court Judge Bruce Waters ruled prosecutors have enough evidence to try Brewer on the allegations in district court.

Brewer allegedly told the sheriff’s office that she had been taking care of the man in exchange for living on the property — and “there’s no question he wasn’t being taken care of,” Waters said. The judge added that, according to the testimony from law enforcement officials, “it wasn’t an accident; it didn’t happen overnight.”

However, Waters openly questioned the strength of the state’s evidence against Brewer on the allegation that she misused the man’s money, saying that authorities have “a whole lot more work [to do] before this thing gets to trial.”

Brewer remained in the Park County Detention Center on Wednesday with bail set at $10,000. She has yet to enter a plea to the allegations.

According to testimony at last week’s hearing, the Wyoming Department of Family Service and the Park County Sheriff’s Office had checked on the man several times over the past six years because of concerns he wasn’t taking care of himself; he reportedly has suffered from diabetes and had a stroke in recent years. However, the man consistently turned down offers of assistance, officials said, most recently doing so last winter.

But things reportedly were different when a sheriff’s deputy and a DFS case worker visited the man’s Meeteetse home on July 1.

The man appeared to have lost a significant amount of weight, charging documents say, with the case worker guessing he weighed only about 90 pounds.

“I didn’t feel he was able to take care of himself,” Deputy Rob Cooke testified last week. He said the man didn’t know what day it was and was unable to get around.

“The house was not very well taken care of; it was pretty filthy,” Cooke added. Both the man’s chair and nearby bed were stained with urine while old food sat on the stovetop and the trash can was full, authorities said. Brewer had also been keeping her dog in the house and authorities would later find dog feces “all over the place in the basement,” Cooke said.

Unlike previous visits, the man asked for medical help and an ambulance took him to Cody Regional Health. Medical staff there guessed that the man hadn’t eaten anything substantial in perhaps six days and came to suspect that he may have been a victim of elder abuse, according to charging documents and testimony.

Deputy Phil Johnson and a DFS worker visited the man at the Cody hospital about 10 days later and found his health “had greatly improved,” Johnson wrote in a filing.

The man reportedly told the officials that he wished Brewer had taken him to the doctor more often — saying he hadn’t seen a medical provider in years — and that it would often be one or two weeks between her visits.

“He told me that he felt like she [Brewer] put him on the back burner when she got busy with other things,” Johnson wrote.

Brewer had control of the man’s checkbook and debit card to buy food and other items, the man reportedly told the sheriff’s office, but “there never seemed to be food in the house,” Johnson wrote. The deputy also found that multiple bills had gone unpaid.

Johnson said in the affidavit that Brewer is suspected to have made 17 unauthorized charges to the man’s account while he was hospitalized in July, with other unauthorized purchases in June. For instance, Deputy Cooke said he learned that Brewer had used the man’s money to purchase gas, even though he didn’t drive. Other purchases included fast food that the man said he’d never received.

Deputy Park County Attorney Jack Hatfield argued at last week’s hearing that Brewer knew the man “was in such bad shape and she did nothing about it — except steal his money.”

However, Kath, the defense attorney, questioned prosecutors’ evidence tying Brewer to the cashed checks and debits.

Although allowing the case to advance, Judge Waters said that “somebody’s gotta start getting those checks and taking a look at things” if prosecutors hope to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

Court records indicate that the county attorney’s office originally tried to charge Brewer back on Aug. 5, but Waters rejected the case after finding insufficient evidence for the misuse of funds allegation.

Johnson then rewrote his affidavit to add in information about Brewer’s alleged withdrawals from the bank account, her possession of the checkbook and several other details about the man’s finances.

Hatfield refiled the case on Oct. 3, Waters signed off on the revised charges and Brewer was arrested Oct. 13.

Noting her lack of prior criminal charges and ties to the area, Kath argued last week that Brewer should be released on a signature bond; Hatfield argued for bond to remain at $20,000, citing the seriousness of the crime and alleging that Brewer had “constantly” bothered the man after his hospitalization and behaved poorly in court.

“General attitude, if that were a factor, yeah it might get the bond higher,” Waters said of Brewer. “But that’s not something I really consider in setting bond.”

He lowered her bond to $10,000. If Brewer makes bail, she can have no contact with the 69-year-old man.

She is set to formally enter a plea to the charges at a Nov. 22 arraignment in Park County District Court.