The son of a 75-year-old Chester County man stole money to buy drugs while failing to care for his father, then hid his father’s dead body in a closet for weeks, officials said.
William Russell Shirley, 34, was arrested late Tuesday night by Chester County Sheriff’s Office deputies, records show. He is charged with willful and knowing neglect of a vulnerable adult resulting in death, and exploitation of a vulnerable adult, said Chester County Sheriff Max Dorsey.
Clyde Harris Shirley, the father of William, was found dead Sunday in his rural home on Boyd Road in Blackstock, south of Chester, Dorsey said. Chester County deputies, state police agents from the State Law Enforcement Division, and the Chester County Coroner’s Office investigated.
We recently posted an update to the death investigation on Boyd Road from March 14. William Shirley has been charged with Neglect of a Vulnerable Adult Resulting in Death and Exploitation of a Vulnerable Adult. Read our full post here: https://t.co/NsG199rDIc pic.twitter.com/cyoHJNj6wT
— Chester County Sheriff's Office (@ChesterSheriff) March 17, 2021
Clyde Shirley had been in poor health, said Chester County Coroner Terry Tinker and Chester County deputies.
Body hidden in a closet
The police investigation showed Clyde Shirley had been dead since Feb. 25 but the body was hidden in the closet by his son, Dorsey said. William Shirley was his father’s caregiver, but stole money from his father to support drug use, Dorsey said.
William Dorsey failed to seek medical care or provide other needs for his father, which led to the father’s debilitation and death, according to arrest warrants obtained by The Herald. William Shirley gave others misinformation about his father’s whereabouts since late February, warrants state.
“This case is an example of what drugs can do to people and families,” Dorsey said. “The victim in this case depended on someone else for his care and well-being, and that care was not given to him.”
William Shirley remains in the Chester County jail, records show.
The abuse and neglect of a vulnerable adult charge leading to death carries a potential penalty of 30 years in prison, South Carolina law states. The exploitation of a vulnerable adult charge also is a felony that carries up to five years in prison for a conviction under South Carolina law.
Elder abuse and neglect a national and local problem
As many as one in 10 vulnerable adults are targets of abuse or neglect, according to statistics from the FBI and National Institute of Justice.
In the Chester case, William Shirley refused to allow another caregiver to see his father and assess his father’s condition, according to the arrest warrants.
In York County in 2020, sheriff’s deputies found the bodies of two elderly women in a home near Clover who had been wrapped in plastic for years after their deaths. The family member alleged to have stolen money from the victims in that case later committed suicide as police were investigating, officials said.
In December in Fort Mill, officials found the body of a 96-year-old man who had been dead for months.
Officials with law enforcement advise anyone who has an elderly neighbor or relative who has not been seen or heard from to seek out that person or call police to have a welfare check done.
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