SCHENECTADY, N.Y. — A Schenectady County jury found Christine Jackson, 50, guilty on four felony counts on Sept. 24, 2026, after prosecutors proved she starved her 73-year-old father, Derek Henix, to less than half his healthy body weight while stealing thousands of dollars from his Social Security account.
The verdict closes a case that began March 25, 2025, when a 911 call prompted a welfare check at Jackson’s Avenue A apartment and officers found Henix barely clothed, unable to walk, and weighing just 73 pounds. The conviction carries a potential sentence of four to 14 years in prison and puts a spotlight on a Medicaid-funded home care program that allowed Jackson to serve as her father’s paid caregiver while allegedly neglecting every duty that role required. Schenectady County Court Judge Matthew J. Sypniewski is scheduled to sentence Jackson on Dec. 8.
When Schenectady police officers arrived at the Avenue A apartment that March morning, they found Henix in a filthy bedroom wearing nothing but a used adult diaper and a dirty jacket draped over his head. The room smelled of urine and feces. Officer William Lemonada later described the scene at trial: Henix was sitting on the bed with emaciated, swollen, and discolored legs, and when an officer asked whether he was all right, Henix said yes — prompting the officer to immediately turn to his partner and call for paramedics. Henix was transported to Ellis Hospital in Schenectady, where staff recorded his weight at 73 pounds. He told hospital workers he was hungry and thirsty and that Jackson had been mistreating him, feeding him fast food or pizza once a day. Investigators executing a search warrant at the apartment later confirmed a lock on the refrigerator that prevented Henix from getting food on his own. Officers also found an unplugged emergency call box inside the unit.
Doctors at Ellis Hospital diagnosed Henix with severe malnutrition and severe peripheral vascular disease, determining that his body had been starved to the point where it could no longer heal itself. He was also found to have ulcers on his foot and was completely unable to walk. Medical staff told investigators they considered Henix at high risk for multiple catastrophic events, including death. Over the following year, Henix developed gangrene in his left foot. His left leg was eventually amputated. He died in March 2026, roughly one year after being removed from Jackson’s care. Because Henix died before trial, prosecutor William M. Lemon had collected a formal deposition from him beforehand. “Even though this man is no longer alive, his story was preserved and the jury heard from him,” Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney said after the verdict.
The timeline of Henix’s decline under Jackson’s care stretches back to June 2023, when Jackson discharged him from a skilled nursing facility in the Bronx. At the time of discharge, Henix weighed 145 pounds and nursing staff provided Jackson with a detailed care plan that included a strict prescription diet. Jackson became Henix’s paid caregiver through New York’s Medicaid Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, a role that also made her legally responsible for managing his Social Security benefits — funds that could only be used for his food, clothing, shelter, and medical needs. Within two months of moving in with Jackson, Henix had already dropped to 129 pounds. Jackson took him to a physician and told the doctor about the weight loss but did not follow the doctor’s recommendations, later telling medical staff she had never obtained the prescribed nutritional shakes meant to address Henix’s diabetes. By October 2023, Henix had developed edema in his legs and weighed 118 pounds when he saw a cardiologist. Doctors ordered follow-up diagnostic testing, but Jackson never took him to those appointments and ignored follow-up calls and letters sent to her home.
Jackson’s deception extended beyond her father’s physical care. Prosecutors said she repeatedly told Medicaid care coordinators that Henix was in fine health and that his weight and condition had not changed, even fabricating the results of medical tests Henix had never taken. The last time Henix saw a doctor was November 2024 — four months before officers found him near death. Shortly after that visit, Jackson terminated his primary care physician over a $300 unpaid balance on Henix’s account. Meanwhile, utilities for the apartment listed in Henix’s name went unpaid, accumulating a balance of $2,300, and Jackson stopped paying rent two months before the March 2025 welfare check. She also prevented other family members from visiting Henix and blocked Schenectady County Adult Protective Services from entering the home to provide assistance. When investigators searched the apartment and questioned Jackson, she told them the refrigerator lock was necessary because her father was “nasty” and claimed that Henix had been “punishing himself” by choosing not to eat.
An analysis of Jackson’s bank records revealed the full scope of the financial crimes prosecutors laid before the jury. According to the Schenectady County District Attorney’s Office, Jackson stole between $3,000 and $50,000 of Henix’s Social Security funds during the period she served as his caregiver. Records showed thousands of ATM withdrawals and hundreds of dollars spent at restaurants, convenience stores, retail stores, and nail salons, as well as Cash App transfers to herself and others. After Henix was removed from her care in March 2025, Jackson continued to spend between $1,000 and $3,000 of his money and food stamp benefits on herself, according to prosecutors. The jury convicted Jackson of third-degree grand larceny — covering the theft of more than $3,000 while Henix was in her care — and fourth-degree grand larceny for the more than $1,000 stolen after she lost her caretaker role. Both larceny counts are felonies under New York law.
The jury returned guilty verdicts on all four felony counts Jackson faced: first-degree endangering the welfare of a vulnerable elderly person, first-degree endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person, third-degree grand larceny, and fourth-degree grand larceny. Carney called the case “a shocking case of abuse and neglect of an elderly victim at the hands of his own daughter who starved her father to the point that he lost half his body weight.” Lemonada, addressing the broader implications of the case after the verdict, noted the dangers facing elderly people who rely entirely on family members for both care and financial management. “When you have an elderly person who’s relying on family members to take care of them, to manage their finances, they are powerless oftentimes to be able to stop it,” he said, adding that the state has since made changes to the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program intended to prevent similar situations. The Office of Children and Family Services has noted that warning signs of elder abuse can include unexplained injuries, poor hygiene, dehydration or malnutrition, and sudden changes in a person’s finances, and it urges anyone with concerns to contact Adult Protective Services.
Jackson remains free pending sentencing. Judge Sypniewski will determine her sentence at 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 8 in Schenectady County Court. The two Class D felony endangerment convictions alone carry a maximum combined exposure of four to 14 years in state prison, with the larceny counts adding additional potential time. No sentencing recommendation from prosecutors has been made public ahead of the December hearing.
