Sister Also Charged for Committing Abusive Acts
A Roosevelt man was indicted on manslaughter charges for allegedly putting his mother in a headlock and swinging her, causing her to fall to the floor and suffer head injuries that later resulted in her death, and additional charges for his treatment of her one week earlier. His sister was also charged with Endangering the Welfare of an Incompetent or Physically Disabled Person in the First Degree for other abusive acts toward her mother in the weeks before her death.
On September 12 at approximately 2:40 p.m., police officers responded to a residence on Hudson Avenue in Roosevelt for a wellness check and discovered Carmel McDougall unresponsive.
After an investigation, police recovered internal NEST camera footage from the residence that showed that Carmel’s son, Michael McDougall, who was her primary caregiver, allegedly placing his mother in a headlock and swinging her around that same morning, causing her to fall to the ground and strike her head. McDougall then allegedly threatened his mother to get up as she laid moaning on the floor.
When police arrived, the victim was transported to Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital where medical staff determined she had suffered a catastrophic brain bleed. Carmel McDougall, who also suffered from dementia, was placed on life support and pronounced dead on September 18.
In addition, the defendant’s sister, Nichole McDougall Mullings, on two occasions on August 30, allegedly endangered her mother’s welfare. In one alleged incident, Mullings physically held her mother down, applying pressure to her arms, wrists and neck and slapped the victim in the face. Mullings allegedly also made verbal threats to the victim.
On the same day in another incident, Mullings allegedly struck the victim, shoved her into her bed, and placed her body on top of her mother’s 92-pound frame, putting pressure on the victim’s lower body and torso. Again, Mullings allegedly yelled threats and compromised the victim’s movement and breathing.
The defendants were arrested by detectives of the Nassau County Police Department’s Homicide Squad on October 2.
Michael Rainford McDougall, 65, was arraigned on October 28 before Judge Christopher Quinn on charges of Manslaughter in the Second Degree (a Class C felony); Endangering the Welfare of a Vulnerable Elderly Person, or an Incompetent or Physically Disabled Person in the First Degree (a Class D felony); Criminally Negligent Homicide and Endangering the Welfare of an Incompetent or Physically Disabled Person in the First Degree (both Class E felonies). McDougall pleaded not guilty, and his bail was set at $250,000 cash, $500,000 bond, and $1 million partially secured bond.
Mullings, 55, was arraigned the same day before Quinn on two counts of Endangering the Welfare of an Incompetent or Physically Disabled Person in the First Degree. Mullings pleaded not guilty and was released to pre-trial services.
The defendants are due back in court on November 22, 2024. If convicted, McDougall faces up to 19 years in prison and Mullings faces up to 1-1/3 to four years in prison.
“Frustrated with their 85-year-old mother’s declining health, Michael McDougall and his sister, Nichole McDougall Mullings, allegedly took their anger out on her with physical violence and threats,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly. “According to the charges, Michael McDougall, his mother’s primary caregiver, pulled her into a headlock and swung her around, causing her to strike her head on the floor. She died several days later from organ failure caused by the catastrophic brain injury she suffered in the fall. Just two weeks before her death, Nichole Mullings allegedly twice constricted her mother’s ability to move and breathe, all caught on internal video footage from the home. As parents age, they rely on family, often their grown children, for support and care. Carmel McDougall’s son and daughter failed her when she needed them most.”