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STRAWSERA Rushsylvania woman whose neglect led to her elderly mother’s death in 2014 was granted release from prison Wednesday after serving 11 months of an 18-month prison sentence.
Mary Strawser, 78, of 7760 N. County Road 5, was sentenced in early May and entered the Ohio Reformatory for Women on May 6 after pleading guilty to third-degree felony counts of reckless homicide and theft from the elderly for neglecting her aging mother, Blanche Cowen, over a period of years and using the mother’s Social Security income for her own benefit.
Ms. Cowen was found dead at age 100 on March 10, 2014, weighing only 84 pounds, dehydrated, malnourished and covered in bedsores and her own feces. She lived with an unqualified caretaker just 50 feet or so from the defendant’s home.
Ms. Strawser had previously asked for early release in July, but Logan County Common Pleas Judge Mark S. O’Connor declined the request at that time. Her scheduled release date was Oct. 31.
She must complete five years on community control supervision and pay court costs, court personnel report.