A Knoxville woman is facing charges of aggravated neglect of her 74-year-old bedridden father after he arrived at a hospital with bone-exposing wounds.
For context, the case centres around 42-year-old Misty McDaniel, whose elderly father was admitted to Blount Memorial Hospital with severe wounds exposing muscle and bone on January 2, 2026.
At the time, it was also determined that McDaniel’s father had a blood sugar level of more than 600 alongside bed sores and “extensive” pressure ulcers at multiple places on his body.
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He was later taken to a critical care unit and required multiple surgeries, including the removal of necrotic tissues. Authorities became involved in the case after it was referred from adult protective services on January 13, per a general sessions docket obtained by WATE.
They ended up visiting McDaniel’s house on Mount Olive Road, where she lived with her father and husband. At the house, the authorities found a month’s supply of diabetes medicines that had not been given to the elderly man, indicating that his elevated blood sugar level, measured at more than 600, may have resulted from the lapse.
When Knox County Sheriff’s Office detectives met McDaniel, the woman claimed that she, along with her husband, had been the elderly man‘s caregiver since before 2018, admitting that no medical services or nurses had been coming to the house to care for him.
According to the narrative cited by the outlet, McDaniel also admitted that she had not taken the victim to see a doctor in more than six months, had not been checking his blood sugar levels daily, despite him having diabetes. The unnamed man became bed-bound after he experienced a stroke a decade ago.
The 42-year-old was taken into custody on January 17 and has been charged with one count of aggravated neglect of an elderly or vulnerable adult resulting in serious bodily injury. Scheduled to appear in court on January 21, the woman’s bond was set at $75,000, per Law & Crime.
The news drew mixed reactions from netizens, with one social media user writing that even if Misty was unable to take care of her father, she should have sought help.
“Even if you can’t take care of something yourself, there is no excuse to not find or ask for help from someone else that can,” they wrote. Another user, who claimed to be a nurse, said these cases are frequent.
“As a nurse I’ve seen this before definitely with family who lived their loved ones. There’s not a lot of help available for family going through this and unless you can be a 24-hour caretaker, this is something that actually does happen.”
A third social media user criticised McDaniel, writing, “I always took very good care of both of my parents. And I would do it all over again. There is no excuse in the world for what she has did !
Describing their own experience, another user added, “I can’t blame her she probably did the best she could. With the homecare and majority of healthcare my 97 yo mom and I a canc patient have received over last 6 years you are better off without or limited contact.”
