A Colwyn woman and her boyfriend took on the responsibility of caring for the woman’s 20-year-old cousin after her previous caretaker died, Delaware County prosecutors said Thursday.
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But instead of providing the woman, who has Down syndrome, with a safe environment, they fed her table scraps, beat her whenever she attempted to sate her hunger and ultimately kicked her out of their home, into freezing April rain, for eating their Goldfish crackers.
Yahnae Clegg-Brown taunted the woman, who police did not name in court filings, as she stood, rain-soaked, begging to be let back inside, according to the affidavit of probable cause for her arrest. Naiyr Sanders, Clegg-Brown’s boyfriend, demanded that she leave the property, according to the affidavit, then punched her in the head and pushed her down the house’s front steps.
A concerned neighbor called 911 after seeing the woman shivering and calling for help after a night spent outside, the affidavit said. When officers took the woman to Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital for treatment, she weighed just 80 pounds.
Clegg-Brown, 35, and Sanders, 31, have been charged with neglect of a care-dependent person, abuse of a care-dependent person and related crimes. They remained in custody in lieu of 10% of $250,000 bail. There was no indication they had hired attorneys.
District Attorney Tanner Rouse, in announcing the charges, said the case was heartbreaking and beyond comprehension.
“Those entrusted with another person’s care have a responsibility to protect them,” he said. “My office will continue to stand up for victims who cannot always stand up for themselves and will work tirelessly to hold those responsible accountable.”
Investigators said the woman began living with Clegg-Brown in November 2023 after the death of Clegg-Brown’s father, who had been caring for her.
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The woman’s living conditions at Clegg-Brown’s home on Ellis Avenue were spartan, according to police: She was sleeping in an upstairs bedroom on a “deteriorating mattress” with no bed linens, the affidavit said.
Clegg-Brown had placed a surveillance camera on top of the refrigerator in the home’s kitchen, which she later told police was used to make sure her cousin was not “stealing” her food. Investigators noted in the affidavit that the woman was receiving regular government-assistance benefits, and that the money was supposed to be spent on her living expenses.
Clegg-Brown never took her cousin to her scheduled doctor’s appointments, and did not enroll her in school, the affidavit said. During meal time, she forced her cousin to sit on the floor and fed her leftovers or ramen noodles and oatmeal. As a result, the woman developed type 2 diabetes from malnutrition, according to the affidavit.
Clegg-Brown told investigators the “final straw” came on April 25, when she found her cousin hiding in her bedroom, eating a package of Goldfish crackers.
She and Sanders forced the woman outside, placed her clothes and bedding in trash bags that were too heavy for the woman to carry, and locked the door behind her, the affidavit said.
Clegg-Brown told the woman she was tired of dealing with her, and told her to find somewhere else to live.
Since her hospitalization, the woman has been placed in a new home with a different caretaker, police said, recovered to a healthy weight and is now attending school.
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