PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Burned and barely breathing. That’s how court documents described 70-year-old Augusta Brown when he showed up to Maryview Hospital in October 2022.

Despite being moved to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital’s burn ward, Brown later died. Portsmouth Police started their work to learn how the burns stretching from the bottom of his back to the middle of his thighs got there.

Detectives sat down with Sabrina Linette Edmonds, Brown’s caretaker who runs an unlicensed care facility out of a home on Taft Drive in Portsmouth. Court records show Brown was placed with Edmonds by the Jewish Family Service of Tidewater.

While in her care on Oct. 12, Edmonds said Brown was burned by hot water.

Edmonds told detectives she was woken up by another resident in her home that night. That’s when she found 70-year-old Brown in the bathroom covered in his own feces.

Documents said Edmonds claimed she tried to wipe Brown down, but his skin began to peel off beneath the rag she was using.

Court records show she did not call 911 or take him to the hospital.

Instead, she gave him a walker to get around more comfortably, despite him repeating he was in pain. Two days after the burns, Brown was having trouble breathing and passed out. It was only then that he was rushed to get medical care.

It came too late, Brown died 13 days later.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commision claims 140-degree Fahrenheit temperature water can cause third-degree burns in just five seconds. After his death, detectives learned the water in Edmonds home had potential to reach 151 degrees Fahrenheit.

Detectives believe Brown, who they describe as a physically disabled elderly person, would’ve had too much difficulty manipulating the shower head on his own. They said the shower head would have had to have been moved by another person.

In court on Tuesday, Sabrina Edmonds was held accountable for Brown’s death.  She was sentenced to serve 10 years with seven years suspended, followed by three years of supervised probation.