Com. v. Devaughn, D.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania·Decided April 14, 2026·No. 1880 EDA 2025·Unpublished·Lane

Opinion

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA

:

v. :

:

:

DEYONNA DEVAUGHN :

:

Appellant : No. 1880 EDA 2025

Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered June 9, 2025 In the Court of Common Pleas of Chester County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-15-CR-0003608-2023

BEFORE: MURRAY, J., LANE, J., and STEVENS, P.J.E.* MEMORANDUM BY LANE, J.: FILED APRIL 14, 2026 Deyonna DeVaughn (“DeVaughn”) appeals from the judgment of sentence imposed following her convictions of abuse of care-dependent person and harassment.1 We affirm.

The trial court summarized the following factual history:

On July 2, 202[3], DeVaughn was employed as a caregiver at an assisted living facility. DeVaughn and a coworker[, Lehla Brickus (“Brickus”),] confronted the elderly victim for wearing her nightgown over her clothing. [Brickus] videorecorded the incident on her smartphone (and posted it to social media) showing [Brickus] shoving the smartphone at the victim’s face, then pushing the victim's face with the smartphone[.] The video recording shows DeVaughn jerking the victim’s nightgown causing it to partially unbutton, laughing, ordering the victim to remove the nightgown, taunting the victim as if challenging the victim to a fistfight, yelling at the victim to remove the nightgown, then

* Former Justice specially assigned to the Superior Court.

1 See 18 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 2713.1(a)(1)(i), 2709(a)(1).

lunging at the victim and pulling at the victim’s nightgown thus unbuttoning it the rest of the way.

Trial Court Opinion, 9/17/25 at 1.2 The Commonwealth charged DeVaughn with two counts of abuse of care-dependent person3 and harassment.4 In May 2025, this matter proceeded to a two-day jury trial. The Commonwealth presented the video and witness testimony establishing the following.

Allison Norton (“Norton”) was a nurse and an administrator at another assisted living facility. See N.T., 5/1/25, at 34. She testified that on July 2, 2023 — the same day the video was posted — an acquaintance showed her a video on the Instagram account of a user named “poohhbankzz,” depicting “resident abuse,” and asked whether it occurred at her facility. Id. at 34, 41. The incident did not occur at her facility, but Norton believed the conduct constituted a “reportable concern.” Id. at 34. Specifically, Norton testified that, as a “nurse [and administrator, t]he concern was that a resident was being battered and abused in a video, clearly in a nursing home or similar setting.” Id. at 34. Norton contacted local police and forwarded the video to

Chester County District Attorney’s Office Detective Steven Parkinson

2 For ease of review, when quoting the trial court’s opinion, we have changed the trial court's references to “Defendant” to “DeVaughn.” 3 See 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 2713.1(a)(3).

4 Later, the Commonwealth amended the complaint to add a count of criminal

conspiracy to each of the existing charges. We further note the Commonwealth also charged Brickus.

(“Detective Parkinson”). The Department of Aging also became involved. Norton identified the video shown at trial as the same video she viewed on July 2, 2023, and testified that it was a fair and accurate depiction of that recording. The Commonwealth moved the video into evidence for identification purposes.

DeVaughn objected to Norton’s testimony concerning abuse. At sidebar, DeVaughn argued that whether abuse occurred was an ultimate issue for the jury to decide. DeVaughn requested that the trial court provide a cautionary instruction. The trial court did not expressly rule on the objection but instructed the jury as follows: “[T]o the extent that you heard the witness opine on what she saw on the video, . . . remember that the ultimate question of whether or not abuse occurred is for you to decide.” N.T., 5/1/25, at 37. DeVaughn did not move for a mistrial.

Detective Parkinson identified a flash drive containing a video that he received from the Department of Aging on July 4, 2023, originating from an Instagram account. He testified that the video on the flash drive was the same video he had received from both the Department of Aging and Norton. Detective Parkinson described the video as depicting “an elderly woman being harassed and abused by two employees of an assisted living facility.” N.T., 5/1/25, at 48–49. Detective Parkinson also described DeVaughn as displaying a “fighting stance” and “aggressive” body language. N.T., 5/2/25, at 42-43. DeVaughn objected, and the trial court overruled the objection. She did not request a curative instruction or move for a mistrial.

Detective Parkinson further testified that the video was posted to the “story” feature of an Instagram account of the user “poohhbankzz.” After executing a search warrant on Instagram, the detective determined that this account belonged to Brickus. Detective Parkinson further testified that the video was posted on July 2, 2023, between approximately 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., and that, through his investigation, he determined that Brickus used her cellular phone to record the video. Detective Parkinson also learned that Brickus was employed at an assisted living facility in Tredyffrin Township, Chester County. Detective Parkinson then forwarded the Instagram video to Kathleen Gillis (“Gillis”), an administrator at the assisted living facility, to assist in identifying the victim and the location of the incident.

Gillis testified to all of the following. She was the general manager of the assisted living facility. On July 4, 2023, she received a telephone call from a detective requesting that she review a video. Gillis did and testified that it was recorded at the assisted living facility. She recognized the carpet, a medical cart, the wall, and the décor shown in the video. Gillis identified the victim and DeVaughn and recognized Brickus’ voice in the video, and testified that the video fairly and accurately represented their appearances, Brickus’ voice, and the assisted living facility on July 2, 2023. She further testified that both DeVaughn and Brickus were working at the facility on the date the video was recorded.

The Commonwealth moved to admit the video into evidence, and DeVaughn objected. At sidebar, she argued that the Commonwealth failed to

authenticate the video because Gillis did not testify that she observed the victim, DeVaughn, and Brickus at the assisted living facility on the date of the incident. DeVaughn further requested the opportunity to cross-examine Gillis prior to the admission of the video.

The trial court suggested that the Commonwealth elicit additional foundational testimony. In response, the prosecutor argued that further testimony was unnecessary, asserting that Gillis’ familiarity with the individuals and the facility, her identification of Brickus’ voice, and other circumstantial evidence — including Detective Parkinson’s testimony regarding the Instagram account, the posting of the video, and search warrants linking Brickus to the account — established authentication under the totality of the circumstances pursuant to Pennsylvania Rule of Evidence 901.

DeVaughn maintained the objection, contending that the Commonwealth had failed to lay a sufficient foundation because Gillis did not testify that she was present at the facility on July 2, 2023, observed the individuals on that date, or witnessed the events depicted in the video. The trial court overruled the objection and permitted the Commonwealth to publish the video to the jury.

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Com. v. Devaughn, D., (Pa. Ct. App. 2026).

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