Unsanitary Conditions Result in Elder Abuse Charges

MPD: Unsanitary conditions result in elder abuse charges

BY MARK BELL

OCTOBER 21, 2010

A 22-year-old Planter Court man is accused of elder neglect for failing to care for his ailing wheelchair-bound mother, according to Murfreesboro Police.

David S. Williams, of 2403 Planter Court, was arrested by Murfreesboro Police Detective Wayne Lawson Wednesday on one count of adult neglect. Lawson reported Williams, the legal caretaker for his mother, had let the conditions of his mother’s home deteriorate to unsanitary and unlivable.

“(The mother’s) living area was covered in urine and human and animal feces, there was no running water in the residence and the toilets were overflowing with feces,” Williams reported. “The sinks were full of trash and the bathtub was full of trash and other waste.”

Murfreesboro Police spokesman Kyle Evans told The DNJ that detectives learned Williams was taking his mother to a nearby truck stop and rest area to bathe her in the restroom. Detectives received an anonymous tip earlier in the month that led to the investigation.

“She was receiving social security benefits and investigators are looking into how that money was being spent,” Evans told The DNJ, adding the case has strengthened the resolve of the department to investigate elder abuse cases.

“Detectives Wayne Lawson and Tommy Roberts will be investigating more cases of elder abuse and neglect,” he said. “They will continue investigating child abuse cases as well. Our youngest and our oldest are our most vulnerable and are the ones we are going to be looking out for much more.”

Williams was booked into the Rutherford County Adult Detention Center Wednesday. A hearing in the case is pending.

SOURCE:    DNJ.COM




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