A Wildwood woman and her accomplice were arrested after using the benefit cards of four vulnerable adults to buy groceries.
On March 11, deputies responded to an adult group home, located at 5489 NW 56th Terrace, Ocala, to assist the Department of Children and Families with a report of fraud, according to an arrest report from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. The case was later found to involve 44-year-old Laquisha Lasha Walker and 64-year-old Patricia Pringle Kinsler.
Contact was made with the complainant, a DCF adult protection investigator, who advised that she was there looking into claims of exploitation of four vulnerable adults that previously lived at the residence. The public guardian for the victims had reached out and explained they received monthly benefits from United Health Care for $220 per individual. The victims lived at the adult group home up until August 2024 and were under the care of Serenity Holistic Residential Care, the report said.
The victims were moved to a new residential care home, located at 15578 SW 46th Circle, Ocala. The public guardian notified the complainant that since the move, all four of their benefit cards had been used at several stores, including Walmart, Publix and Dollar General. Since the victims moved, the cards were not in their possession or anyone else’s from the new residential care home that they moved to, the report said.
On April 9, the deputy contacted the DCF investigator about the case. She advised that she was told by the owner of Serenity Holistic Residential Care that her aides, Walker and Kinsler, cut up and destroyed the health cards when the victims left the group home, the report said.
Due to the time lapse of most of the transactions made with the victims’ cards, no video footage was obtained from Walmart or Dollar General. However, the deputy was able to get footage from eight separate transactions made at two Publix stores, located at 2765 NW 49th Ave., Suite 301, Ocala, and 303 SE 17th St., Suite 201, Ocala. Walker spent $177.09 while Kinsler spent $637.90 from Jan. 22 through March 5, the report said.
On April 23, the deputy met with the owner of Serenity Holistic Residential Care. He asked that she review the footage and try to identify the individuals using the victims’ cards for purchases. She positively identified Walker and Kinsler in each transaction, the report said.
The owner stated that when she confronted Kinsler about the use of the cards, she admitted that new ones arrived after the old ones were destroyed. She reactivated the cards to buy groceries for the home. She was also aware of Walker using the benefit cards to buy groceries for her new PepperTree Apartment in Wildwood, located at 3813 PepperTree Lane 2109, the report said.
On May 6, the deputy called Walker. She admitted to using the cards belonging to the victims but denied using them for personal use, the report said.
The deputy also called Kinsler who also said she used the cards and denied personal use. She advised that she used the cards to buy food for the individuals living in the group home. She was in control of purchasing groceries for the home and in charge of handling benefit cards. She was confused on the cards she was using and alleged she was not using them intentionally knowing the victim no longer lived at the location, the report said.
Walker and Kinsler were ultimately arrested Wednesday morning and both charged with two counts of fraudulent use of personal identification of a victim who is a disabled adult, two counts of fraudulent use of a credit card two or fewer times, and two counts of petit theft (second degree). They were transported to Marion County Jail to be held without bond.