GUILTY PA - Christina Sankey, 37, autistic, Philadelphia, 6 March 2014

[chaotic_idealism]

Adding more thoughts...

I've been reading up on paradoxical undressing and terminal burrowing--both are behaviors seen in end-stage, fatal hypothermia. The person will take off their clothes, and then sometimes they will find a small space to squeeze into. It happens just before death. The clothes are usually found near the body, which is usually found in a cupboard, under a bed, behind furniture. So there's the idea that Christina didn't put those trash can lids on herself--they were already lying there, perhaps propped against the curb, and she burrowed under them.

But that doesn't quite add up, either. From what I've read about terminal burrowing, the small space much more attractive to Christina, (more precisely, Christina's brain stem in end-stage hypothermia), would have been underneath a car. She was between two cars, so she would have been quite close to a car and should have been found underneath one, or as far underneath one as she could get. Instead she was found with her head on the curb. That does not match terminal burrowing behavior.

If she was found face-up, as the trash-can lids imply, this does not match hypothermia either--people with end-stage hypothermia, with the undressing/burrowing response, tend to crawl into hiding places--not lie down on their backs. She should have had abrasions on her hands from crawling, if that was what happened; typical cases do, especially relatively young people like this one.

If she undressed herself, and if this is a case of hypothermia, it would have happened in the minutes before her death, and the clothing should have been found near her body. But the presence of clothing was never mentioned. Where did her clothing go?

 

[Tammy N]

This story breaks my heart. As a sibling of a younger disabled brother, who is 46 but mentally 12, this wrenches my heart so bad. I hope they find what truly happened. From the sounds of it, her mental capacity was that of a toddler, and I don't believe for a moment a toddler would even be able to arrange garbage can lids on top of themselves like that. RIP beautiful Christina.

 

[wendybtn]

Buttons are a pretty hard skill even for "neuro-normal" kids to master. If she had not mastered this skill by teen age or in her 20's, I doubt she picked it up later.
My other thought is, however she got to the more confined (read safer to her) space perhaps a homeless/mentally unstable person was wandering and sensed her being cold (no shirt) or sensed her death/near death, and covered her as an empathetic gesture, or keeping her modesty gesture? Not everything people do is always meant as insult or negative. At least, I prefer to think that way if circumstances allow.

 

[bflocket]

I know that she wasn't wearing her shirt, which is why she's been described as "half-naked."

-Does anyone know if her shirt was ever located or where?

With her disabilities, I figured that if she were going to disrobe, pants would be the easier thing to take off (usually one button, one zipper, and some help from gravity).
You would have to contort more to slip out of a shirt (button-up or even t-shirt) than the pants. Unless they were button flies (i.e. 501's), but I can't picture her wearing those.

 

[MagnoliaMountain]

It's the first time I have heard of this case and it makes me want to cry my eyes out. So sad. RIP Christina.

 

[OkieGranny]

From April:

http://articles.philly.com/2015-04-...stina-sankey-west-philadelphia-autistic-woman

A Philadelphia grand jury has recommended criminal charges against a caseworker who allegedly let an autistic client wander out of a Center City department store 13 months ago, a day before the client was found dead in the cold in West Philadelphia...

Williams, in the statement, said that Wulu "failed at her job," and that her failure led to Sankey's death. He noted that Wulu had taken care of Sankey for four years and should have known not to let her wander away.

Hassanatu Wulu is expected to face charges of neglecting a dependent-care person, a felony, and a misdemeanor charge of recklessly endangering another person, according to Cameron Kline, a spokesman for Williams.

 

[OkieGranny]

From November:

http://articles.philly.com/2015-11-20/news/68416154_1_christina-patricia-sankey-caretaker

Christina, 37, was unable to speak, dress herself or use the bathroom alone, and she had the mental capacity of a toddler. She was also an "eloper," prone to wander, unafraid of strangers and busy streets, which she'd cross without heed to traffic...

Security footage shows Wulu entering the store on Market Street, Christina trailing behind, unattended and out of Wulu's direct sight. Wulu then stopped at a jewelry counter to inspect the baubles while Christina paced behind her. Soon, Christina made a beeline for Macy's Chestnut Street doors. She exited, walked west and crossed Broad Street, where she was almost hit by oncoming vehicles. She then turned south on Broad and vanished.

Her body was found the next morning, 5 miles away, lying between two cars on a residential block. She had died of exposure in the frigid night air. She lay beneath a trash-can lid, which she perhaps had pulled onto herself for warmth...

Wulu, 34, a married mother of two, pleaded guilty to one felony count of neglect of care of a dependent person and a misdemeanor count of reckless endangerment. She will be under house arrest for 11 1/2 to 23 months, then on probation for three years.