Jonathan Michael Miller (Marion County Jail)
A Florida man was sentenced to prison after his ailing mother was found in a bug, feces and urine-infested home so contaminated that detectives wore biohazard suits.
Jonathan Michael Miller, 51, was sentenced on Wednesday to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to a charge of aggravated manslaughter of an elderly person or disabled adult in the death of Geraldine Miller, 70, online court records show.
An affidavit outlines the case that came to light on June 25, 2020, when authorities responded to a home in the 400 block of NE Ninth Avenue on a 911 call that Jonathan Miller made at his mother’s direction requesting medical care.
Once there, first responders found Geraldine Miller “covered in bugs, in poor health, and requiring immediate medical treatment,” the document said.
She was taken to a hospital on sepsis alert precautions, and police were called out to investigate her living conditions, court documents said.
At the hospital, she was taken to a decontamination area, where she was intubated. She had gangrene of the back, renal failure, anemia, low blood pressure, and sepsis and ultimately died.
“In the opinion of the doctor in charge, the victim was severely neglected, and the smell of the gangrene alone should have prompted any caregiver she was in need of medical help,” the affidavit said. “It was also discovered during examination that the victim had live bugs crawling along her entire body including her mouth, nose, ears, anus, and vagina.”
At the house, detectives wore biohazard suits. The home was infested with bugs. The furniture and mattresses were soiled. There was a strong smell of ammonia, urine, and feces inside, the affidavit said.
“The couch where the victim had been located laying on, was soiled with soaked in urine and feces as well as riddled with live bugs,” the document said.
Cat feces and urine littered a back bedroom.
In an interview with an investigator at the home, Jonathan Miller said he had been his mother’s sole caregiver. She had seen a psychologist and had “unknown mental health problems,” the document said.
His mother was “really sick” due to the bedbugs and conditions in the house. She was unable to care for herself, couldn’t get up for at least a week, and soiled herself while lying on the couch, the document said he told the detective. He fed her and gave her water, but he told the investigator she didn’t allow him to care for her hygiene as she was “embarrassed,” the affidavit said.
He fed her soup on June 21, but the only thing she had eaten since was ice cream, the document said.
She hadn’t changed clothes in a week and hadn’t received medical care since December 2019, the last time he cleaned the home, court documents said.
“Jonathan stated the house has been infested with roaches and bedbugs for several years and confirmed he did have a cat which lived inside which does not use a litter box,” the affidavit said.
When Detective Daniel Collier asked why he had not asked for help tending to his mother, the defendant told investigators his mother would not allow him to.
“I specifically asked Jonathan if he felt he had neglected his mother and he advised ‘somewhat,”” Collier wrote in the affidavit.
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