A Lake Charles, Louisiana, home health worker was arrested after surveillance video showed him pouring bleach into a water bottle and handing it to a physically and mentally disabled client who later said it tasted strange, authorities said.
Reginald Andre Wilson, 30, of Lake Charles, faces charges of aggravated battery, cruelty to the infirm and mingling of harmful substances. He was booked into the Calcasieu Parish Correctional Center with a $70,000 bond.
Lake Charles Police Department officers responded around 7:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 14, to a home in the 2400 block of Anita Drive after a relative of the client called to report the incident. The victim, identified in local reports as 48-year-old Marshal Huntsberry, is physically and mentally handicapped and unable to care for himself. Family members said he has been unable to walk since a hit-and-run crash years earlier.
According to police, Huntsberry told officers the caregiver gave him the water bottle and that after drinking from it he noticed it tasted like bleach. A relative confronted Wilson, who admitted pouring bleach into the water, authorities said.
Home security video collected as evidence shows Wilson, dressed in black scrubs, taking the bottle from the living room, going into the kitchen or laundry area, pouring liquid from a large jug, shaking the bottle and handing it back while saying, “Here, drink this.” The family posted the footage online while demanding justice.
Wilson worked for Heaven on Earth Home Health, also identified as Heaven On Earth Network Inc. The agency was contacted before police arrived; Wilson was forced to leave the property and the client was taken to an emergency room for evaluation. Family members said Huntsberry is okay.
Heaven On Earth released a statement saying it was “deeply saddened” by the video, that client health and safety is its top priority, that any abuse is not tolerated, that the worker was immediately removed, and that the agency is cooperating with local and state authorities.
Police said the victim completed a formal prosecution form. No motive has been publicly released. A widely shared post about the video incorrectly placed the incident in Arizona.
The case has drawn attention to the role of in-home cameras in protecting people who cannot fully advocate for themselves when a caregiver’s actions go unseen. Wilson remains in custody pending further court proceedings.
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