Kansas man, Raymond McManness charged with the first degree murder of his Olathe mother, Sharon McManness after neglecting to afford her medical care.
A Kansas son has been charged with first-degree murder after failing to seek medical care for his ailing mother before she died weighing just 58 pounds and suffering from open bed sores that were bone deep.
Raymond McManness, 51, called 911 on January 23 to report that his 75-year-old mother Sharon McManness had stopped breathing at her Olathe home.
His mother, who had dementia, was pronounced dead after police arrived.
Police described the elderly woman as ‘very emaciated’ with one of her bedsores ‘open to the bone’.
The details surrounding the woman’s death were detailed in McManness’ charging documents, which were only released on Wednesday.
Police who searched the home reported finding fresh blood on the mattress where they found Sharon.
Court documents said there was an indention in the mattress that police said was consistent with someone sitting upright for a long time.
The mattress was covered in blood and urine, as well as human and animal feces reported the Kansas City Star.
But it gets grimmer.
Raymond McManness: No medications, no clean clothing, no working telephone and minimal food.
Police who searched her home reported finding no medications, no clean clothing, no working telephone and minimal food. Dog feces and urine was also found throughout the house.
Court records said soiled clothes that appeared to be cut off the victim were found in a trash can in the driveway.
Preliminary findings from the medical examiner’s office said the woman likely died from an infection caused by open bed sores.
Authorities said she had one bedsore on her buttocks that was open to the bone and it was estimated that she had been suffering from it for four to six weeks.
She was also malnourished and dehydrated.
An examination also showed Sharon had bruising on her jaw area, wrists and the upper part of her head. It remained unclear how the mother came to be bruised around her head area.
McManness told cops that he was his mother’s primary caregiver- with the mother allegedly refusing medical treatment.
He said he had been living with her but moved out about six months before she died because she kept him awake at night.
McManness told police that he checked on her before and after work, bringing her food as she became bedridden and forcefully opening her mouth in an attempt to get her to eat on the day before she died.
Court records said McManness went to the Kansas Department of Aging weeks before his mother died and was told he needed to take her to a doctor.
He told police he didn’t take her because he was ‘busy due to the holiday season’ and he was ‘scared because he had not been taking adequate care of her’.
McManness is charged with first-degree murder and also mistreatment of a dependent adult.
He was jailed on $1 million bond.
