Nurse’s aid arrested after prying dementia patient’s wedding ring off, selling it to pawn shop

MURRYSVILLE, Pa. — A nurse’s aid is facing robbery charges after police say she stole rings off of the hands of a dementia patient who was in her care at the Redstone Highlands Living Facility in Murrysville.

Christina Ankney refused to answer questions from Channel 11, or show her face, as Murrysville police loaded her into a cruiser to take her to the Westmoreland County Prison Wednesday afternoon.

“It is disheartening especially when you trust in your caregivers to care for your loved ones during the end of their lives,” said Detective Matt Panigal of the Murrysville Police Department.

Two weeks ago, police said the woman’s daughter reported her mom’s wedding ring was missing from her mom’s hand.

She hadn’t taken them off in recent years after her husband died. Police say they couldn’t have fallen off.

“She had a hand condition where her hands were always clenched shut, so the suspect would have had to forcibly remove the wedding ring from her hand,” Panigal said.

According to court documents, Ankney worked for Dedicated Nursing Associates and was contracted to work at Redstone Highlands Living Facility.

Channel 11′s Andrew Havranek spoke with John Dixon, the CEO of Redstone Highlands on the phone. He called the act “despicable” and “heinous,” and said they are working with the victim’s family, expressing their sympathy. He is also calling for jail time.

Ankney was taken into custody after she showed up for a preliminary hearing on burglary charges in North Huntington earlier Wednesday morning. Police say she was on federal probation after being indicted for stealing mail earlier this year when she worked as a United States Postal Service employee.

After stealing the rings, police say Ankney took the rings to the Fat Pocket Pawn Shop in North Versailles. They confirmed to police Ankney was paid $464 for those rings on June 4. Police said luckily, the pawn shop still had the rings.

“The pawn shops and the jewelry centers don’t keep them very long. They either sell them off or melt them down,” Panigal said. “For a victim to get their jewelry back, that’s a rare occurrence. It rarely happens.”

Ankney is in the Westmoreland County Prison, unable to post bond. She’s due in court on September 5 for her charges in Murrysville. She will be in court on the charges in North Huntingdon in October.

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