Vernal care facility managers arrested, accused of abusing resident

VERNAL — Two employees of a facility that helps residents with mental health and other disabilities have been arrested and accused of beating a resident with a wooden dowel, and a third employee is accused of not doing anything about it.

Ashia Wyasket, 23, and Kayla Jeanine Evans, 33, were each booked into the Uintah County Jail Friday for investigation of intentional aggravated abuse of a vulnerable adult. Evans was also arrested for investigation of a second count of intentional aggravated abuse of a vulnerable adult and obstruction of justice. A third woman mentioned in the arrest affidavit was being investigated for criminal negligence for allegedly witnessing the abuse but not doing anything to stop it or report it, and obstruction of justice.

The investigation began Friday night at 880 N. 1500 East, a residence run by North Eastern Services. A neighbor noticed a man standing near the driveway of the facility who “appeared to have been sobbing and his face was covered in blood,” according to a police booking affidavit. Investigators say Evans and Wyasket are managers at the home.

The neighbor called the Uintah County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy who has dealt with the man before was assured that the man’s injuries were not self-inflicted as he “was showing signs of being hit directly in the front of the face and nose area,” according to the affidavit.

As deputies began interviewing multiple employees to find out what happened, they learned that Evans and Wyasket assaulted the man in his room “with a wooden dowel that is used to keep the back door shut,” and both women took turns hitting the man with the dowel, the arrest report alleges.

One employee had an audio recording of the assault on her phone and deputies said they could hear the man “kicking his door because Kayla and Ashia (were) in the process of locking him inside his room. I continued listening and it can be heard Ashia yelling, ‘Knock it … off’ followed by a noise similar to a wooden knock. The wooden knock sounded as if it made contact with (the man’s) head,” a deputy noted in the affidavit. “The noise of the wood knock could be heard multiple times before you hear both Kayla and Ashia laughing.”

Deputies also learned that on Aug. 11, “Kayla had broken her hand from hitting (the man) on the back on the head,” the affidavit says. “(Other) employees stated that this has been an ongoing issue and that they were scared to lose their jobs and did not report any of the abuse.”

Some of the past incidents of abuse include “leaves stuffed into (the man’s) mouth by Kayla and Ashia,” according to the affidavit. After Friday’s assault, police say Evans and Wyasket conspired to tell others that the man was throwing a tantrum and injured himself by hitting his head on the wall. Investigators, however, confronted them with the audio recording.

Deputies also reported observing multiple bruises on the man’s face, a scratch mark on his neck, a bruise right in the center of his chest and fresh welt marks that were on his side.

North Eastern Services “supports opportunities for people to achieve independence, enhance self-esteem and sustain a full quality life,” the company’s website states.