Nurse's aide accused of prying rings from Murrysville dementia patient's hand

A nurse’s aide accused of stealing a Murrysville dementia patient’s engagement and wedding rings likely pried them from the elderly woman’s hand, police said.

Christina L. Ankney, 39, of Braddock is charged with robbery in connection with the incident at Redstone Highlands in Murrysville. A warrant has been issued for her arrest.

Murrysville police were contacted Aug. 11 by a woman whose mother suffers from dementia and lives at Redstone Highlands, a senior care community on Cline Hollow Road. She reported that her mother’s rings had been missing for a week and neither she nor Redstone staff could find them.

The woman told police her mother had not only worn the rings constantly in recent years, but also that she has a medical condition causing her hands to contract, making it unlikely for the rings to have fallen off, according to court documents.

Murrysville police received a tip that a female employee of Delmont-based home care company Dedicated Nursing Associates had pawned an engagement ring and wedding band June 4 at Fat Pocket Pawn in North Versailles.

Police communicated with staff at Fat Pocket Pawn to corroborate the description of the rings and to confirm Ankney was the person who brought them to the store, where she was paid $464, according to a criminal complaint.

Redstone Highlands staff verified to police that Ankney was subcontracted as a nurse’s aide through Dedicated Nursing Associates and was assigned to work in the victim’s room June 4, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

“For Ankney to steal the two rings from (the victim’s) contracted hands, she would have had to forcefully pry (them) open and physically keep them open long enough for her to pull the two rings from her fingers, a task that most likely caused (the victim) discomfort,” Officer Brian Sadlowe wrote in the criminal complaint.

Dedicated Nursing Associates officials could not be reached for comment.

In addition to the most recent charges, Ankney is wanted on felony counts of burglary, theft and receiving stolen property by North Huntingdon police.

Ankney also is the subject of a federal indictment from March, in which she is accused of stealing mail addressed to a Murrysville recipient while she was employed by the U.S. Postal Service in 2022.