Man charged for letting grandmother live in bedbug-ridden home

Anthony Allen Millard, Jr.

FLINT, MI – A 38-year-old man has been charged with elder abuse after his malnourished grandmother was found living in a Flint home with a bedbug ridden mattress. 

Anthony Allen Millard, Jr., 38, was arraigned Saturday, Oct. 5 in Genesee District Court on a single count of second-degree vulnerable adult abuse.

Genesee County Sheriff Robert Pickell told reporters Tuesday morning that Millard moved into her home in 2016 as the sole caretaker.

The sheriff’s office elder abuse task force was notified by adult protective services “that they suspected a woman was being abused and neglected,” said Pickell.

He did not specify what led to the alert.

Investigators discovered the 82-year-old woman had been diagnosed with dementia and the woman was unable to walk or prepare food for herself.

“When the investigators went out there along with adult protective services they found that the bed was ridden with bed bugs,” said Pickell. “There was feces around (the home) and that the victim was extremely malnourished. At the time she was taken to the hospital she weighed 95 pounds.”

Investigators also learned Millard allegedly had not taken his grandmother to a physician for more than one year or provided her with medication for months, Pickell said.

He urged those in the community who may suspect someone is neglecting or exploiting an elderly person to contact adult protective services or the task force, which began in 2007.

“We’ve arrested hundreds and hundreds of people on warrants for elder abuse,” said Pickell. “It’s a very active team. We work very closely in the community with medical people, adult protective services. We’ve trained all the front-line people, police on recognizing elder abuse.”

The training has included information on guardianship and power of attorney to working credit unions and banks to combat the financial exploitation of seniors.

“I don’t know that we’ll ever find a remedy to it,” Pickell said. “It’s just people taking advantage of people, greed in many cases.”

If convicted, Millard faces up to four years in prison and/or a $5,000 fine, or both.

He’s being held in the Genesee County Jail on a $10,000 cash or surety bond.

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Man charged for letting grandmother live in bedbug-ridden home