Woman charged in death of daughter
Prosecutors: Death was the result of starvation
Prosecutors in Waukesha County say the death of a severely autistic Pewaukee woman in June was the result of starvation, and that her mother is to blame.
The Waukesha County District Attorney charged Amy Laszkiewicz, 52, on June 21 with one count of recklessly subjecting an at-risk individual to abuse causing death. The case was bound over for trial at a hearing Monday.
Laszkiewicz has pleaded not guilty to the charge. She faces up to 40 years in prison, if convicted.
According to a June 21 criminal complaint, deputies responded to a home on Christian Lane on Jan. 4 after Laskiewicz called 911 to report that her daughter had died. There, they found Laszkiewicz’s daughter in a secondfloor bedroom with blankets covering her body. She wasn’t breathing and had no pulse.
Investigators say the 23-year-old woman was extremely thin and her eyes and cheeks were sunken.
Laszkiewicz told investigators her daughter had been diagnosed with severe autism and wasn’t able to regulate her own diet. Laszkiewicz said she was her daughter’s sole care provider and that her daughter hadn’t left the residence since the COVID-19 pandemic.
An autopsy determined the 23-yearold was emaciated and dehydrated; her hip bones, ribs and sternum were all visible under her skin, according to the criminal complaint. She was 5-foot-5 and weighed 70 pounds at the time of her death.
According to the criminal complaint, Laszkiewicz told investigators the woman last saw a doctor in 2019, but they determined her last documented visit was July 3, 2017.
Investigators discovered medical records that showed the woman’s weight was 135 pounds on July 14, 2016.
Laszkiewicz told investigators she noticed her daughter was getting thinner, but that she thought she eventually would “bounce back,” according to the criminal complaint. She said didn’t consider contacting EMS to have her taken to a hospital because she “didn’t want to upset” her daughter, the complaint said.
Laszkiewicz is free after posting a $10,000 cash bail the day after she was charged.