GOLDEN, Colo. (Dec. 1, 2025) – Brian Lee Seitz (DOB 7/29/1987) and Laura Pratts (DOB 9/15/1970) have pleaded guilty to Negligent Death of an At-Risk Person for their roles in the death of fifty-nine-year-old Sheryl Seitz, who was Brian’s mother.
At the time of Sheryl’s death, Brian and his girlfriend, Laura, were paid caregivers contracted through a home health care company to provide daily care for her. Sheryl suffered from severe arthritis and chronic pain, and she required full assistance from others to move. Brian had been a paid caregiver for her since November 1, 2017, and Laura since September 1, 2019.
On April 29, 2024, first responders were called to an Airbnb residence in Arvada for a report that an adult woman required urgent medical care. Paramedics found Sheryl lying on an air mattress in the garage, and she was nonverbal. She was transported to Lutheran Hospital for further treatment.
Medical personnel later discovered extensive injuries, including advanced bed sores, hip fractures, and maggots burrowing into her body. Despite medical intervention, she died approximately twenty-one hours after she arrived.
In May 2024, Investigators from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office arrested Brian and Laura. The First Judicial District Attorney’s Office charged them with Negligent Death of At-Risk Person (F4), Negligent Serious Bodily Injury to At-Risk Person(F5), and two counts of Crime of Violence. Brian Seitz was also charged with Tampering with Physical Evidence (F6).
Jefferson County Forensic Pathologist Dr. John Carver ruled Sheryl’s death a homicide. He determined the cause of death to be complications of neglect that stemmed from prolonged immobility caused by rheumatoid arthritis and bilateral femoral neck fractures, along with additional complications including decubitus ulcers, maggot infestation and burrowing, cellulitis, and sepsis.
Both defendants ultimately accepted responsibility for their conduct. Brian Seitz pleaded guilty on September 19, 2025, to the top charge of Negligent Death of an At-Risk Person, a class four felony under section 18 6.5 103(2)(a) of the Colorado Revised Statutes. Pratts entered the same plea on November 14, 2025. As part of the resolution, the parties agreed on a factual basis establishing that, between December 8, 2023, and April 30, 2024, the defendants, either acting as principals or as complicitors, were criminally negligent in their care of Sheryl. The factual basis includes failure to properly care for pressure sores, failure to maintain her personal hygiene, and delaying necessary medical attention.
As a result of their pleas, the remaining counts were dismissed. Prosecutors did not agree to any sentencing concessions. By statute, each defendant faced a sentencing range from probation up to twelve years in the Department of Corrections.
At the sentencing hearing for Brian Seitz earlier today, Chief Deputy District Attorney Bryan Cook argued for a Department of Correction sentence in the midpoint (six) to maximum (twelve) end of the exceptional circumstances sentencing range as the neglect was “prolonged”. Family members of Sheryl urged the court to impose the maximum sentence of twelve years.
District Court Judge Jason Carrithers sentenced Brian Seitz to ten years in the Department of Corrections, followed by a mandatory three years of parole.