By STEVE PRISAMENT
Staff Writer

ATLANTIC CITY – Terming it a “miraculous recovery,” AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center trauma surgeon Jeff Anderson said the surviving twin from an assault in Galloway Township Tuesday, Aug. 5 is days from being transferred to a facility closer to her home in Alabama for rehabilitation.

“She’s gotten through the most difficult part,” he said at a press conference at the medical center Wednesday, Aug. 13. “She still has many, many weeks of rehabilitation.”

Anderson said he expects a full recovery from a “severe trauma brain injury and blunt force trauma.”

Twelve-year-old Courtney McCarten had been classified critical at the medical center’s city campus for three days before being upgraded to serious on Friday, Aug. 8.  On Tuesday Aug. 5, she and her twin sister and their grandmother were attacked by her uncle, according to police.

Her grandmother died the day of the attack and her sister Kimberly died the next day from wounds allegedly inflicted by Ronald Weed, 41.

“I’ve been doing this for 20-plus years and this is one of the more remarkable recoveries I’ve seen,” Anderson said. “She suffered extensive and sustained brain injury.”

Courtney McCarten was comatose when she arrived at the trauma unit, Anderson said.

“She had wonderful care prior to her arrival,” he said. “We had three trauma surgeons here at the time and a whole array of caregivers.”

Anderson, who was one of the surgeons at the time, said Kimberly McCarten’s injuries were much worse than her sister’s.

“She did not recover from the brain trauma,” he said.

Meanwhile Courtney is listed in fair condition and has been transferred to the medical center’s pediatrics area.

The twins’ mother and daughter of their slain grandmother, Loretta Largo, spoke briefly at Wednesday’s press conference.  She thanked AtlantiCare personnel and Galloway Township responders for all they did.

Accompanied by her husband Frank Largo, she said the family decided to donate Kimberly’s organs to the Gift of Life donor program.

Ronald Weed has been charged with two counts of murder and one of attempted murder, according to Atlantic County Prosecutor Ted Housel.

Police said he used an ax, a ceramic object and a knife to attack his mother and twin nieces visiting from Alabama shortly after 8 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 5 in the home of Loretta Weed on South Nectar Avenue in Galloway Township.

Police said one of the girls called 911 to report that her grandmother was being attacked.

Following an autopsy on his mother Wednesday, Aug. 6, Weed was charged with her murder. On Thursday, Aug. 7, a second murder charge was added after the death of Kimberly McCarten. Loretta Weed died at 1:55 p.m.
Tuesday; Kimberly McCarten at 9:40 p.m. Wednesday.

Both deaths were attributed to “blunt force trauma to the head,” according to the prosecutor.

In addition to the two murder counts, Weed is charged with three counts of aggravated assault and possession of weapons for unlawful purposes.

He had originally been held on $600,000 cash bail before any of the victims died.

Superior Court Judge Michael Donio raised bail to $1 million, full cash, after the first death when one charge of attempted murder was changed to murder. Donio continued the bail at $1 million Thursday after a second murder charge was added.

During Wednesday’s hearing Weed said he understood the charges against him and told the judge that he could not afford an attorney. The judge said Weed would be provided with forms for a lawyer.

Donio asked Weed if he had even been institutionalized, and Weed said that 10 years ago he spent three weeks at Ancora Psychiatric Hospital in Camden County, but he is not currently under the care of a doctor.

Galloway Township police contacted the Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit shortly after they arrived at the home in the Pinehurst section of the township at about 8:20 a.m.

Authorities discovered the victims bleeding from multiple wounds, according Housel. Loretta Weed was in the living room with one of the girls. The third victim was in a bedroom.

Galloway Township Detective Sgt. Paul Dooner and Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit Sgt. Michael Corrado are the investigators, Housel said.