Caregiver accused of trying to kill elderly couple with rat poison-laced cigarettes

MmeEmil/iStock(COAL TOWNSHIP, Pa.) — A caregiver is accused of trying to kill an elderly couple in Pennsylvania by lacing their cigarettes with rat poison.

A 73-year-old woman in Northumberland County told authorities last Friday that she found an unknown green substance in cigarettes that were rolled for her by Tina Young, who takes care of her 80-year-old husband.

When confronted by investigators, Young admitted to putting ground-up pieces of rodent poison with the loose tobacco in the cigarettes she rolled for the couple in an attempt to kill them for having her fired from her job, according to the incident report from the Pennsylvania State Police.

It was unknown whether the couple was sickened by the substance.

Young, 37, was arrested for attempted murder, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment.

Arraigned before a district judge on Monday, she’s being held at the Northumberland County Jail on $250,000 bail.

A preliminary hearing is set for June 26. It’s unclear whether she’s hired legal counsel.

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