A single black hair could help bring clarity to the of a 50-year-old Philadelphia woman who choked on a large disinfectant wipe at a care home for people with development difficulties. Staff found Cheryl Yewdall face down on the floor, lips blue and in a pool of urine. She was taken to a hospital but died five days later.
The medical examiner’s office later said it couldn't determine how the 7-by-10-inch wipe got in her airway -- leaving unresolved whether Yewdall’s death was accidental or a homicide. No charges have been filed. On Friday, attorneys for the victim’s family asked a judge to order DNA testing on a strand of hair that was stuck to the corner of the wipe — a potentially important piece of evidence missed by homicide investigators, according to the legal filing.
A pathologist for the family detected the hair by magnifying police evidence photos of the wipe. “Cheryl’s mom hired me to get justice for Cheryl," attorney James Pepper told The Associated Press in an email. “The DNA analysis of this previously unaccounted single strand of hair holds the promise of getting Cheryl that justice.
” A wrongful death suit filed by Yewdall’s mother in 2022 casts suspicion on an unidentified staff member at the Merakey Woodhaven facility in Philadelphia. The motion filed Friday included a photo of Yewdall with mostly gray hair and some darker strands. The hair that Pepper wants tested is black.
“Plaintiff’s counsel needs to ascertain whether the hair located.
