Background: News footage of the scene where Wendy Wilson was stabbed on Oct. 29 (WCBS). Inset: Amanda Fraser (Nassau County Police Department).
A New York woman who worked as a home health aide for an elderly patient was charged with attempted murder.
Amanda Fraser, 23, was arrested in October after she allegedly stabbed Wendy Wilson, the then-84-year-old woman she was tasked with caring for as an overnight home health aide. According to Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly, Fraser was caught on surveillance cameras at Wilson's home in Massapequa, New York, at 2:08 a.m. on Oct. 29, entering Wilson's bedroom as she slept. Fraser then allegedly plunged a chef's knife with an 8-inch blade into Wilson's torso and "repeatedly whispered for the woman to succumb."
Donnelly said that Fraser then left the older woman to bleed in her bed alone until the next home health aide arrived.
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According to Donnelly, Fraser "held the knife firm" in Wilson's body for "an excruciating 16 minutes." Wilson woke up in pain and moaning and tried to remove the knife. Fraser allegedly "maintained her grip on the knife handle" while whispering to Wilson to "just let go" and "stop fighting it."
Fraser allegedly removed the knife at 2:28 a.m., per the surveillance cameras, and left Wilson's home. Local ABC affiliate WABC spoke to Wilson's son, Kery Kilgannon, who told the station that cameras on the outside of the home allegedly showed Fraser attempting to hit the house with her Dodge Charger before she fled the scene on foot. Coverage from the day after the stabbing by CBS affiliate WCBS showed Fraser's car still parked on the front lawn of Wilson's home.
Wilson's family told WABC that their mother was found the next morning by the home health aide who worked the morning shift. Police arrived at the home around 8:30 a.m. and Wilson was taken to the hospital. Donnelly said she was treated for a punctured lung, which later became infected. Wilson was hospitalized until recently. She turned 85 while she was in the hospital.
The Nassau County Police Department said in a press release that Fraser was located in Queens and arrested on Oct. 29. WCBS reported that she was taken to the hospital for a mental evaluation before her arraignment on Nov. 3. The station also spoke to an employee at Aides at Home, the agency that employed Fraser. A manager there told WCBS, "The investigation is ongoing. We're cooperating fully."
Fraser was indicted for attempted second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault, second-degree assault, two counts of endangering the welfare of a vulnerable elderly person, and endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person. She remains in custody at the Nassau County Correctional Center and is scheduled to again appear in court on Dec. 9.
