South Jersey woman pleads guilty in beating death

A Camden woman pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter Thursday in the 2007 beating death of an elderly Cherry Hill man.

Yolanda Steele faces up to 25 years in prison when she is sentenced next month in Superior Court in Camden.

Steele had been the full-time caretaker for Sidney Wenof, a retired meat wholesaler, and his wife.

Wenof, 82, told doctors on Dec. 11, 2007, that he had been severely beaten by Steele with his own cane, prosecutors said. He lapsed into a coma soon after and died at Cooper University Hospital.

An autopsy determined the cause of death to be blunt-force trauma and pneumonia he acquired in the hospital.

Steele was unlicensed and not affiliated with any home health care organization. Wenof hired her on the recommendation of a friend.