Parents Charged in Retarded Man's Death From Starvation
Originally published by The Associated Press, April 10, 2002
FOLEY, Ala. (AP) — A couple was charged with murdering the woman's 39- year-old mentally handicapped son, who authorities said was naked and thin when he died of starvation after being locked in a room for 10 years.
Eugene Williams stood nearly 6 feet tall, but his body had dwindled to 74 pounds before he died of malnutrition and dehydration in a lightless room in the Mills community near Foley, investigators said.
"He appeared to have been locked in the room for a decade or more," Baldwin County District Attorney David Whetstone said Tuesday. "That's like being in solitary confinement … for 10 years."
The death was reported in a 911 call to police March 18. Williams had been dead several days and the call apparently was made after the smell became intolerable, Whetstone said Wednesday.
Daisey Mae Holmes, 74, and Willie Holmes, 69, who was Williams' stepfather, were arrested Tuesday and charged with felony murder, felony kidnapping, abuse and neglect of a protected person and theft. They were being held at the Baldwin County Corrections Center in Bay Minette on $25,000 bond each.
The couple had no attorney appointed by Wednesday and no court date set. Whetstone said Mrs. Holmes may also be mentally impaired.
Williams apparently was last seen outside the house in 1988 or 1990. A doctor who had treated him died seven years ago, Whetstone said.
The nearest neighbor lived about 100 yards from the Holmes house, about a 1,500-square-foot dwelling. Two of Mrs. Holmes' adult daughters, who authorities also described as mentally impaired, and an 11-year-old grandchild, lived in the house as well.
"It's not an isolated community," Whetstone said. "No one wants to get involved in a situation like this. This was a difficult person who should have been in an institution when he disappeared."
Whetstone said the window in Williams' room had been boarded up. There was no television or radio.
Investigators found trays of rotten food and moldy drink containers in Williams' room, and said he was naked, with no bedding or blankets to keep him warm. Several investigators commented on the overpowering smell of decay coming from the room when they first arrived at the house March 18.
Whetstone said the couple kept the government's $500 monthly benefit money sent for Williams' care. He said his office has subpoenaed records from state and federal agencies who were supposed to provide care and protection. If false reports are found, more charges may follow, he said.
Neighbors said the Holmes seemed like a normal family that kept mostly to themselves.
"Mr. Holmes was always out in the yard doing his work. He seemed very kind. He would always speak, say 'good morning.' Nothing seemed out of the ordinary," neighbor Leonetta McGowan told the Mobile Register.
"It's just a wake-up call to be more alert, pay more attention, be more concerned about your neighbors. If you don't have contact with them, you really don't know what's going on," McGowan said.
Foley Police Lt. Rick Springsteen said he had "never seen anything like this" in his 10 years with the department.
"It's been disturbing to think of someone being in the dark—hungry, thirsty, probably scared, maybe in pain—for years like that," Springsteen said.
Mike Gibson, a spokesman for the Department of Human Resources, said he did not know whether Williams was legally under his agency's care.
"We'll certainly cooperate in the investigation, and we'll work with the DA any way we can," Gibson said.
Some relatives said they are still shocked and outraged at what happened.
"I think all of them are responsible, if you ask me. It's not like they didn't know what was going on," said Lashaundra Scott of Foley, a cousin of Williams. "There was a lot of them that stayed up there at the house."
