An Arvada woman will spend more than a decade in prison after the death of an abused woman she was supposed to be taking care of.

Jefferson County District Judge Jason Carrithers sentenced 55-year-old Laura Prats to 11 years in prison Thursday after she pleaded guilty to a count of negligent death of an at-risk person, according to a news release from the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

The Arvada Fire Department was initially dispatched to an Airbnb in the 6400 block of Kendall Street on April 29, 2024, after a report of a sick person. Upon arrival, responders found Sheryl Seitz — a 58-year-old disabled person and mother of co-defendant Brian Seitz — on an air mattress in the garage. She was “covered in filth and maggots,” according to the news release.

The woman was transported to a nearby hospital and was found to be suffering from bed sores, two hip fractures, a loosely connected wrist, ulcers, and septic shock. She had maggots burrowing into her body. She was legally blind and had arthritis. She died the next day.

The mother of Sheryl Seitz said in a written statement to the court Thursday that she died as a “direct result of abject neglect and complete disregard for human life,” adding that Prats was using the $4,400 per month that she received from Lark Home Care to fund her own drug habit and described Prats’ “cold and calculated decisions to cover up her crimes” as “unconscionable.”

Brian Seitz was also sentenced to 10 years in prison for the same charge last December.

Prats addressed the court, claiming to have loved the woman. She said she took care of her for seven years, but the few months before her death went “awry.”

Prats added that when she would try to call an ambulance for the woman, Sietz would get angry.

“I’m not a horrible person; I’m not a murderer. I have such remorse for what I’ve done,” she said.

Carrithers questioned how the two were ever approved as caregivers, especially with Prats’ prior drug convictions.

“There’s just no oversight over that process, and it resulted in death,” he said.

Carrithers also noted that the state legislature recommended a two-to-six-year sentencing range for the offense, but the judge decided that was not enough punishment.

“A two-to-six-year range for criminally neglecting an individual to the point of death is insulting,” Carrithers said. “It’s insulting to their lives and the lives of their loved ones.”