October 28, 2020. Racine, Wisconsin. Officers arrive at a quiet house for a routine welfare check on a man nobody had seen in months. His mother meets them at the door and won’t let them inside.
What they eventually find behind her, the red X spray-painted on every door, the red line on the floor, the “on vacation” sign, and what’s in the other room, becomes one of the most disturbing welfare checks ever caught on camera, and the beginning of a case that never got its day in court.
IMPORTANT: Cheryl Christensen was charged with neglecting a disabled person causing death. She was twice found incompetent to stand trial, the case never reached a jury, and she was never convicted of any crime; she was entitled to the presumption of innocence.
In July 2024, Cheryl Christensen was killed and her home set on fire; her son Jesse Patt, who authorities say reportedly admitted responsibility, died days later during an encounter with police that the Wisconsin Department of Justice reviewed and cleared.
