Janice HarmesLANCASTER, Pa. (WHTM) -
A Lancaster woman has been held for trial in the death of her elderly mother.
Janice Eileen Harmes, 66, appeared for a preliminary hearing Thursday before District Judge Denise Commins, who found enough evidence to forward the case to county court. A formal arraignment was scheduled for March 27.
East Lampeter Township police last week charged Harmes with third-degree murder, neglect of care for a dependent person, and reckless endangerment in the death of 88-year-old Janet Bastendorf.
An autopsy determined Bastendorf died from complications of sepsis, a severe response to bacteria or other germs, and the sepsis and a large bedsore was the direct result of Harmes failing to provide care for her mother, who sat in a diaper filed with feces and urine in the approximately 10 days leading up to her death, police said.
The manner of death was ruled a homicide by the Lancaster County Coroner's Office.
Harmes has been held in the Lancaster County Prison since her arrest. Her bail is set at $150,000.
