Docs: Richmond woman found dead inside home covered in garbage and feces; caretakers facing neglect

RICHMOND, Ind. - A Richmond woman and her boyfriend are facing neglect charges after her daughter was found dead in a "padded stall" covered in garbage and feces.




According to court documents, on July 24, officers with the Richmond Police Department responded to a call about an unresponsive female.




Police arrived at a residence in the 1300 block of South 10th Street and met the female's mother, Liza Lindsay, who agreed to let officers search the home. Police found a 19-year-old autistic woman dead in the home.

The interior of the house

When police entered the residence, a strong odor hit them, described in court docs as a combination of cat urine, feces and garbage. As officers continued into the house, they found rooms with trash piling up, fly strips hanging from the ceiling covered with dead insects and bathtubs full of garbage.




Lindsay told police that one of her kids was sleeping on the couch in the living room. Court docs indicate that garbage was littered throughout the residence, with boxes and trash going from the living room into the dining room and the kitchen.




Later on, members of the Wayne County Health Department found that the ammonia levels in the house were five times higher than what is considered the safe amount.




Police could not find "fresh food" in the refrigerator; they did, however, find what appeared to be black mold.




One of Lindsay's children told police the last thing they ate was a "hot sauce sandwich," but was unable to remember when.




In one of the kids' rooms, black spots were found on the walls and ceilings. In their report on their investigation, police indicated that they found it hard to breathe in the residence because of the smell of garbage and feces - even though they wore masks while inside the home.

The 'stall'

As the police continued, they came upon a closed-off room that resembled a stall. The area was padded about four feet high on all sides; the walls inside had holes, along with a hole on the "stall" door, court docs stated.




When the officer entered, he saw the dead woman. She was on the ground with about 12 used diapers on the floor around her. She was only wearing a partially attached diaper. It appeared that she and the walls around her were covered in a brown substance, appearing to be feces.

Police's account of what happened

Lindsay's boyfriend, Darryl Grubbs, reportedly found the female dead in the morning when he went to give her medicine. Grubbs told police he occasionally stayed with Lindsay and served as the kids' stepfather. The children, however, told police he was always there.




Grubbs told police he and Lindsay waited about 15-20 minutes before contacting emergency services so Lindsay could calm down.




Lindsay told police that her daughter was born with medical problems and was disabled her whole life. She was nonverbal, autistic, epileptic, wheelchair-bound and suffered from microcephalic disease, mitochondrial disease and Pitt-Hopkins syndrome. She also reportedly lived off a feeding tube until the age of 10.




Due to her illness, the woman commonly had seizures. Lindsay told police the holes in the "stall" walls were from the woman hitting her head when she seized.




Lindsay said the last time she saw her daughter was around 10:45 p.m. on July 23. She changed her diaper, gave her medication and had her drink some fluids. Lindsay said she went into a seizure that lasted for about a minute. Lindsay indicated that she waited for the seizure to end, laid her daughter on her side and left to go to bed at approximately 11:15 p.m.




According to court docs, after Grubbs found the 19-year-old dead in the morning, Lindsay told police she noticed the woman was lying on her back and her feet were curled up like they would during a seizure.




The autopsy report found that the woman died due to a probable seizure due to a complication of Pitt-Hopkins syndrome

Background

When police questioned Lindsay about the state of the house, she said it looked the way it did because of her depression. She told police that her depression had worsened when her doctors took her off medication in January




When police searched her medical history, they could not verify that she had been taken off her medication.




During their investigation of the 19-year-old's death, a person who claimed to be acquainted with Lindsay indicated that they had not visited Lindsay's home in years. The acquaintance also indicated that she had not seen the 19-year-old at all in the last six months. The acquaintance told police that Grubbs may have been violent with both Lindsay and her children.




One of Linsday's relatives also told police that they had not been to Lindsay's home in years. According to court records, Lindsay's relative indicated that Lindsay's other children appeared to be bathing and eating properly.




That same relative told police she had not seen the 19-year-old in about a year. The relative also reportedly indicated that she often smelled cat urine on the clothing of Lindsay's children.

What now?

Lindsay and Grubbs are each facing two preliminary counts of a neglect of a dependent. The preliminary charges they face are Level 6 Felonies.




Online court records indicate that Lindsay appeared in court on Friday at 3:39 p.m.





via: https://fox59.com/news/docs-richmond-woman-found-dead-inside-home-covered-in-garbage-and-feces-caretakers-facing-neglect-charges/