FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. — The Flagler County Sheriff's Office arrested a Palm Coast woman for manslaughter in the death of her elderly mother in 2018, who was found to be malnourished and in deplorable living conditions.
On Dec. 5, 2018, paramedics and Flagler County deputies responded to the home of 85-year-old Frances King after her daughter, then 61-year-old Kim Zaheer, told 911 that King was not breathing. By the time paramedics arrive, King was dead, according to the FCSO.
Investigators determined King was malnourished, having not eaten in a long time. Furthermore, deputies noted deplorable living conditions in King's bedroom as "extremely bad" with an unbearable odor of feces and urine, the sheriff's office said.
The medical examiner ruled King's death a homicide due to "elder abuse, neglect and starvation," according to the sheriff's office.
Initially, investigators had problems obtaining medical and legal documents attesting to King's diminished mental state, and that her daughter was the person legally responsible for her, the FCSO said. The case soon went cold.
In the summer of 2020, Sheriff Rick Staly started a full-time Cold Case Unit, dedicated to solving sex crimes, missing persons, homicides and other unsolved violent crimes where the statute of limitations had not expired.
Detective Andrew Cangialosi, who took over the King case in March 2020, was the first detective assigned to the new unit.
Cangialosi later found a “Certificate of Incapacity” that showed King was unable to care for herself, and that Zaheer was the primary care surrogate, according to the sheriff's office. Cangialosi's investigation also revealed that King had not seen a doctor since Nov. 2017, more than a year before she died.
On March 31, more than two years since King's death, authorities arrested Zaheer, who was later charged with "manslaughter of an elderly disabled adult." She is currently in jail on a $500,000 bond.
“Cases like these and the small list of other unsolved cases of homicides, missing persons, and sex crimes are what led to the creation of the Cold Case Unit,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “I am grateful that we were able to arrest the suspect in this case and hopefully this can offer some closure to family and friends of the victim. If you are responsible for a human being’s care you must take care of them. No matter how long it takes we will continue these investigations to hold people accountable for their crimes.”
This is the first case considered solved by the new FCSO Cold Case Unit, according to the sheriff's office.
