Man to face trial on Elderly Abuse of Mother-in-Law

Man faces trial in abuse of elderly mother-in-law
Paramedics found woman lying in filth
By Michael Manekin, STAFF WRITER (insideBayArea.com)


SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO — When paramedics arrived at Beverly Brown's San Bruno home in July, the 81-year-old woman was reportedly lying on the floor in a bed of trash.
Her nightgown was matted in feces and rotting food, according to paramedics. Her body was covered in bedsores, gangrene and maggots, police said. She was so disoriented that she couldn't speak. The stench was overwhelming, authorities said.

Prosecutors say Brown was a victim of neglect, and they've charged her son-in-law, John Thomas Lyons, 54, with one felony count of elder abuse for failing in his role as the woman's primary caretaker.

A Superior Court judge ruled Thursday that enough evidence exists to bring Lyons to trial on the elder-abuse charges — a crime with a maximum penalty of nine years in prison.

"The fact is, you just can't leave someone to rot," Deputy District Attorney Melissa McKowan said after the preliminary hearing on Thursday.

Paramedics allegedly found Brown on July 30 after her son-in-law called 9-1-1. Lyons was concerned that his mother-in-law had suffered a stroke, according to defense attorney Charles Smith.

Lyons, of Sacramento, had become his mother-in-law's primary caretaker "by default," Smith said. He and his wife, Dana, had taken the 81-year-old woman into their home in the Sacramento area for several years, but Brown was independent-minded and wanted to return to her own home in San Bruno, the defense attorney said.

Eventually, it fell the Bay Area, to look after his mother-in-law, Smith said. According to the defense attorney, the people who should have taken responsibility for Brown were the woman's own children: Lyons' wife and her two brothers, both of whom live out of state.
"The sad thing about this case is that the people who should have been responsible for Beverly Brown thrust the responsibility on the son-in-law," Smith said.

Lyons looked after his mother-in-law four days a week, feeding her and providing her with a change of clothes, Smith said. But Brown preferred to keep to herself, Lyons reportedly told police. Meanwhile, Lyons had his hands full caring for his own mother, who has Alzheimer's, Smith said.

Prosecutor Melissa McKowan acknowledged that it may not have been easy for Lyons to take care of his mother-in-law but roundly dismissed the defense's argument, concluding, "You know what? He's a grownup."

"When you are someone's caretaker, you must act as a reasonable person," she said. "A reasonable person would not allow someone to lay in feces and maggots in a pile of garbage on the floor."

According to McKowan, Lyons could have arranged a reverse mortgage on Brown's home to pay for his mother-in-law's home care. Otherwise, he could have sold his mother-in-law's home and sent her to a nursing home.

However, there was a financial motive for Lyons to keep Brown at home, she said. Lyons' wife allegedly told police that Brown had threatened to cut the couple out of her will if she and Lyons sent her to a nursing home. That's exactly where Brown is currently living — a nursing home in Daly City.

She was transferred to the facility after spending months in the hospital recovering from her alleged neglect.

The 81-year-old had developed debilitating sores after lying on the floor of her home covered in her own urine and feces, a police officer testified during the preliminary hearing. She is recovering from her physical ailments and being treated for dementia in the nursing home, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors couldn't say how long Brown had been suffering in her home, but neighbors reported that she was last seen outside six months before her discovery in July, McKowan said.

"My mother-in-law's always been very independent, and I just had to do what she wanted," Lyons said Thursday in the Superior Court parking lot.

He reflected a moment on his own mother's steady decline with Alzheimer's.

"Old age is a train wreck," he concluded. "I'm not looking forward to mine, ... if I make that."

Lyons is expected to appear at the Hall of Justice in Redwood City on Jan. 18 for his Superior Court arraignment.

He remains free on $50,000 bail.

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