Why Did Shelba Catterton Remain Outside for Nearly 36 Hours Before 911 Was Called?

 An 83-year-old woman with advanced Alzheimer’s disease was supposed to be living in a place designed to keep her safe. Instead, Shelba Catterton’s family says she wandered outside Harmony at West Ashley in Charleston, South Carolina, became trapped in a secured courtyard, and was attacked by fire ants. What followed, according to a wrongful-death lawsuit, was a devastating ordeal that ended with Catterton’s death two weeks later.

The lawsuit, filed August 19 by Catterton’s daughter Jan Buice, alleges that an employee propped open a door leading to the secured courtyard on the night of July 23. Catterton, who was nonverbal and known to be at risk of wandering, reportedly passed through the opening sometime after 10 p.m. The door then allegedly closed behind her, leaving her alone outside in darkness and unable to find her way back inside. The courtyard was intended to remain secure.

At some point, Catterton reportedly ended up in or near a fire ant mound. Her family’s complaint estimates that she suffered more than 1,000 bites and stings across her face, eyes, scalp, chest, back, arms, hands, legs, and feet. Because of her advanced Alzheimer’s, the lawsuit says, she could not call for assistance, rise from the ground, or remove the insects from her body as they continued attacking her. She could not communicate or protect herself.

The most troubling allegation concerns how long she remained without emergency medical care. The family says nearly 36 hours passed before a Harmony employee called 911, and that the call came only after Buice arrived, saw her mother’s condition, and insisted she be taken to a hospital. A 911 call described Catterton as having bumps across her back and face, while the dispatcher reportedly was not told how long she had been suffering. The alleged delay remains central to lawsuit.

Catterton reached the hospital on July 25, where records cited in the lawsuit described extensive injuries from the ant bites. She was reportedly hypothermic and showing signs of sepsis, while pneumonia also complicated her condition. Her health continued to decline, and after she was transferred to hospice care, she died August 7 at Lowcountry Community Hospice House in Summerville, according to her family and attorney. Relatives remained involved as her condition worsened.

The death has prompted investigations beyond the civil lawsuit. Charleston police have investigated the circumstances and served search warrants at Harmony at West Ashley, according to the family’s attorney, while the Charleston County Coroner’s Office is awaiting autopsy and toxicology results. Those results are important because Catterton’s official cause and manner of death have not yet been determined, meaning the family’s allegations about what led to her death remain subject to investigation. The investigation has not reached a final conclusion.

Catterton’s daughters are now seeking accountability from the facility, alleging negligence, wrongful death, and violations of requirements governing care for people with Alzheimer’s disease. Their attorney has argued that a memory care facility caring for vulnerable residents has a responsibility to provide appropriate security and supervision. Harmony at West Ashley has expressed condolences to the family and said it is committed to caring for residents, but declined to discuss the allegations because the matter is in litigation. The company offered condolences but declined further comment.

For Catterton’s family, the case is about more than a lawsuit; it is about understanding how a woman could remain outside, unable to call for help. Her daughters are grieving a mother whose weeks were marked by suffering and uncertainty. Until investigators determine what happened, her death remains a reminder of the responsibility for caring for people with dementia.