Deputies said this abuse lasted for weeks.
The women lived together, and Dunn's mother told deputies that her daughter was stressed over a $3,500 vet bill, WFTV reported.
Dunn cried as she faced a judge Friday. She's charged with battery, abusing the elderly and obstructing justice for what deputies said she did her to mother.
Seminole County deputies responded to an apartment complex Thursday evening.
When they arrived, they said the victim told them Dunn was drunk and started an argument when the victim wouldn't give her methadone.
The report said Dunn started pulling her mother's hair, kicking her legs and slapping her on the right cheek. The victim tried to call police, fearing that Dunn would kill her, deputies said.
"I'm shocked," neighbor Bobby Banyan said. "I got a mom. She's (in her) mid-70s. I would not do that to my mother."
The report said when Dunn's mother attempted to call deputies, Dunn grabbed the victim's walker and snatched the phone.
When the mother finally contacted deputies, she told them that Dunn came home last week and started punishing and starving her, the report said.
Deputies said the victim told them that she survived on crumbs and candies that she discovered around the house. She said her daughter wouldn't give her her medication and refused to take her to the doctor, deputies said.
"I think we need to get to know our neighbors a little better," Banyan said.
Dunn's mother refused to press charges because her daughter is her sole caretaker, the report said.
No one answered the door when WFTV visited the home Friday evening.
Dunn remains jailed in lieu of $15,000 bail.
About the Author