FORT PIERCE — Two people have been arrested following a St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office investigation into what authorities described as a disturbing case of elder abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation.
The investigation began July 16 after a complaint to the Florida Department of Children and Families alleged that the victim was being physically abused and neglected by her caretakers. A second report in October raised additional concerns about the victim’s physical and mental health, the Sheriff’s Office said.
During interviews, the victim told investigators she was denied food, restricted from moving freely inside her home, and forced to use the restroom outdoors. She was also made to shower in a small tent with a garden hose that provided only cold water and no temperature control.
Detectives later learned the victim suffered from a chronic, untreated wound that exposed internal tissue and bone, along with other medical conditions believed to have resulted from prolonged neglect.
The investigation also found that Enrique Junior Navedo, 43, had fraudulently transferred ownership of the victim’s home into his name using a quit claim deed that appeared to have been backdated and filed more than a year after its alleged signing.
Navedo was charged with fraud-swindle-obtain property $50,000 or more and abuse of an elderly or disabled adult without great bodily harm.
Loy Lynn La Pierre, 58, was charged with abuse of an elderly or disabled adult without great bodily harm.
Both suspects were booked into the St. Lucie County Jail.