Investigators discovered two days after the arrest that Russell's mother died. Upgraded charges are pending.
Author: S.G. de León y León
SPRING HILL, Fla. — The Hernando County Sheriff's Office arrested a 47-year-old man from Spring Hill after investigators said his elderly mother “was found with multiple open sores, covered in her own feces and urine, and infested with maggots.”
Jason Russell now faces charges of neglect of his elderly mother as well as causing great bodily harm. Russell is also facing charges for resisting an officer without violence.
Investigators say Russell called 911 on Thursday after his 79-year-old mother became unresponsive in the home they shared on Boyce Street.
Hernando County Fire Rescue arrived to find Russell in the driveway with his mother in a wheelchair. According to the sheriff's office, Russell refused to let medical personnel inside the home to check what medications his mother was taking.
The woman was transported to the hospital, where doctors said she was “malnourished, septic from multiple sources of infection, had pneumonia in her right lung, a urinary tract infection, and had areas of her skin that were rotting from infection,” investigators said.
Deputies arrived at Russell’s home and declared it a crime scene. They said Russell was arrested after he knowingly entered an active crime scene after being told to stay outside.
According to the sheriff’s office, deputies found two heavily soiled couches covered in ants and flies inside the home. They also reportedly found soiled women’s clothing by a bedside commode and a strong odor of ammonia.
Investigators say Russell, who was his mother’s primary caregiver, told them he bathed his mother by dipping her in the pool or wiping her with a cloth.
Russell was taken to the Hernando County Detention Center, where he is being held without bond, due to the domestic nature of the offense and because Russell was already out on bond for a DUI, the sheriff’s office said.
Two days after Russell's arrest, detectives learned that his mother had died. They are working with the medical examiner and the state attorney's office to consider upgraded charges.
According to the Florida Department of Children and Families, the state requires reporting known or suspected abuse, neglect, abandonment, exploitation, or self-neglect of vulnerable adults (elderly or disabled).
You can report abuse online or call the abuse hotline at 1-800-962-2873.
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Spring Hill Man accused of abusing mother who was found malnourished, with rotting sores
