Mother, Son Accused of Stealing $50,000 From Elderly Patient

TROY, N.Y. — A mother and son who worked as home health aides are accused of stealing more than $50,000 from an elderly patient while she recovered from a broken hip.

Tammy Baker, 39, and her son, Gary Baker, 19, were arraigned last month on second- and third-degree grand larceny charges.

The Bakers were hired by the 87-year-old woman as home health aides while she was in a wheelchair recuperating from an injury in 1995, authorities said.

Prosecutors say the two drained the money from the woman’s bank accounts, stocks and other assets between 1995 and 1996.

The victim, Ivy Lessels, a former Russell Sage College assistant dean, died in September 1997, about eight months after authorities began investigating the depletion of her assets.