A Texas caregiver, aged 54, faces a lengthy prison term for the grave mistreatment and neglect of a disabled woman under her care, resulting in severe consequences.

Last month, Comal County District Judge R. Bruce Boyer sentenced Brandy Marie Doster to 25 years in a state prison. This decision followed Doster’s guilty plea to the charge of injuring a disabled individual, which led to serious bodily harm, according to authorities.

The Comal County District Attorney’s Office detailed in a press release that the investigation into Doster commenced on May 21, 2023. New Braunfels Police Department officers responded to a distress call reporting an adult woman’s body in the backseat of a car parked in a garage.

The call originated from Doster’s estranged daughter, who informed the police that her mother had arrived at her home in a frantic and incoherent state, claiming to have been in an accident and referring to the victim as merely “sleeping” in the vehicle’s backseat.

Concerned, Doster’s daughter drove to the victim’s location, discovering the body still inside the vehicle, wrapped in an emergency blanket, prompting her to immediately contact emergency services.

Investigators responding to the scene soon learned that Doster was a longtime friend of the victim’s family and had been hired to care for the victim on a paid, full-time basis after the victim suffered a traumatic brain injury resulting in frequent seizures. While Doster had previous health care experience, she was not a licensed caregiver in Texas.

At first, the victim’s family “trusted Doster completely,” providing her with a $70,000 annual salary, covering her daily expenses, and allowing her to live in the victim’s home and drive the victim’s vehicle. The family even purchased a home in Canyon Lake for Doster’s relatives to live in, believing they were supporting a caring individual.

Over time, prosecutors said Doster began “isolating the victim,” telling family members that limited contact was necessary for the victim’s well-being.

Doster’s daughter told investigators she had witnessed her mother abuse the victim but felt she could not intervene, describing her mother as being “very manipulative,” especially when it came to “lies by omission.”

“[The daughter] recounted seeing her mother tie the victim’s hands and feet to furniture, hit and slap the victim — sometimes so hard the victim would fall to the floor — and shove a sock in the victim’s mouth if the victim attempted to scream,” the release states. “She also stated that the house the victim’s family bought near Canyon Lake for Doster’s family members had become known as the ‘cat house’ due to more than 110 cats being kept in the home.”

When first interviewed by detectives, Doster stated she had “memory issues” and claimed she “blacked out” the night the victim died.

But when confronted with the medical examiner’s evidence, Doster changed her story. The postmortem showed not only that “the victim’s arm had been completely broken in half,” but that the wound went untreated, leading to “a severe infection and necrosis.” The victim’s cause of death was determined to be fatal sepsis.

“Doster eventually admitted that she was aware of the victim’s broken arm for approximately two weeks before her death,” prosecutors wrote. “When asked why she never sought medical care, Doster told investigators she ‘(expletive) up’ but claimed she intended to take the victim to the hospital after dropping off her dog in San Antonio. Detectives noted that Doster had passed multiple hospitals along the way to and from San Antonio.”

When questioned about the additional alleged abuse, Doster reportedly admitted she had tied her down — claiming it was for the victim’s safety — and placed socks in the victim’s mouth to keep her from speaking, and also threw objects at the victim.

The admissions were just a portion of the “extensive evidence” authorities said revealed a “disturbing pattern of ongoing abuse, neglect, and deliberate disregard for the well-being of an innocent and defenseless victim.”