Inset: Aaliyah Fortner (Rich and Thompson Funeral Home). Background: Marlo Wallace appears at an arraignment for allegedly killing Fortner (WSOC).
In a harrowing incident in North Carolina, a caregiver is accused of fatally attacking a nonverbal autistic woman with a Taser and then stomping her to death, before attempting suicide by crashing her vehicle. She allegedly informed the police that a “deceased person” would be found at her residence.
Marlo Wallace, aged 59, faces charges of first-degree murder following the death of 23-year-old Aaliyah Fortner. The investigation unfolded on October 26, 2025, when the Gastonia Police Department responded to an accident involving her vehicle and a semi-truck.
Once at the hospital, Wallace reportedly told the authorities they would discover a body at her home located on the 1800 block of Green Brook Trail in Dallas.
Upon arrival, officers discovered Fortner’s lifeless body. Fortner, who had been under Wallace’s care, was living at her residence.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Wallace allegedly subjected Fortner to repeated abuse, including striking her with objects, pushing her down, using a Taser on her, and brutally kicking and stomping on her head. Initially, Wallace faced charges of concealing a death from unnatural causes, patient abuse and neglect, and felony assault on a person with disabilities.
After receiving autopsy results, prosecutors determined that Wallace murdered Fortner with “malice afterthought.” The results of the autopsy were not made public.
Since Fortner was nonverbal, she was unable to articulate what was happening to her. That’s what makes her brother most angry.
“For her to be alone through all of that and then for it to end the way it did, I hate to even think what was going on in her mind,” Caleb Simpson told local ABC affiliate WSOC.
Another woman responsible for Fortner’s care, Vera Williams, also is charged with patient abuse and neglect and felony assault of an individual with disabilities.
“It hurts,” Simpson said in a TV interview. “My sister went through all of that alone.”
Local NBC affiliate WCNC reported authorities revoked Wallace’s guardianship of another nonverbal adult living at her home some two years before Fortner’s placement.
Simpson said her sister never should have been placed with Wallace.
“Watch who you trust. Everybody should be angry about something like this,” Simpson told WCNC. “Let’s say you sit there and you trust the state, and then they just fail you like that. Makes no sense.”
Wallace remains behind bars at the Gaston County Jail. Her next court appearance is set for June 19.