Hawkins County Woman Charged in Death of Grandmother

A Hawkins County woman has been arrested and is sitting in jail after being charged with killing her grandmother. The Hawkins County Sheriff’s office says that 80 year old Maggie Ruth Williams died in November of last year due to the neglect of her caregiver…36 year old granddaughter Misty Dawn Burnett. Detective Mike Lipe of the Hawkins County Sheriff’s office said that the 80 year old Williams had already died and no autopsy performed by the time the sheriff’s office was called by Adult Protective Services.

According to medical records, the 80 year old grandmother had been laying in her bed feces and urine that caused large bed sores, those bed sores eventually caused her to become septic, killing her within 24 hours of being hospitalized. Barnett was living with her grandmother and was in charge of taking care of her. If convicted of the charges against her, Barnett could face 3-6 years in prison.