Richard Towers (Santa Ana Police Dept.)
A 50-year-old man in California is accused of killing his 82-year-old mother who died after an ambulance removed her from the “hoarder-like” home where she was found in horrifically unsanitary conditions. Richard Tower was taken into custody on Monday and charged with one felony count of murder, one felony count of inflicting injury on an elder adult, and one felony enhancement of causing great bodily injury on an elder adult in the harrowing death of Shirley Towers, authorities announced.
According to a news release from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, emergency medical personnel on Jan. 15 responded to a call at Richard Tower’s home after he called 911 and told the emergency operator that he was unable to wake his mother.
Authorities noted that Richard Towers had previously prevented law enforcement from having access to his mother, who was diabetic and required injections, when they attempted to conduct a welfare check on the residence in December 2023.
Upon arriving at the scene, first responders said they found the victim “covered in dried feces and bedsores, including a sore on her hip that left bone exposed.”
“The home’s floors were covered in urine and feces and hundreds of dead roaches and other bugs littered the refrigerator where the woman’s insulin was kept,” prosecutors wrote in the release, noting that the home also “did not have running water.”
Medical personnel rushed Shirley Towers to Kaiser Permanente Orange County — Irvine Medical Center for treatment where doctors said they observed seven separate pressure wounds across her body, all of which would have taken “weeks to develop.” By the time she arrived at the facility, doctors diagnosed Shirley Towers as being in septic shock.
Due to the severity of Shirley Towers’ condition, hospital staff contacted the Santa Ana Police Department and officers responded to the facility to investigate allegations of elder abuse, the department said in a separate news release.
Investigators from the Special Crimes Section identified Richard Towers as his mother’s primary caregiver and soon thereafter obtained and executed a warrant on his home where forensic evidence was collected.
Despite efforts by medical staff to treat the woman’s extensive injuries, Shirley Towers succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced dead on Jan. 25, 2024, 10 days after being admitted to Irvine Medical Center.
Following the issuance of an arrest warrant, Richard Towers on Feb. 12 turned himself in to authorities.
“The cruelty involved to allow your own mother to suffer in what undoubtedly was excruciating pain is unconscionable,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement following Richard Towers’ arrest. “This was not accidental oversight by a careless caretaker; this was murder. The infliction of pain on a defenseless, elderly woman will not be tolerated in our community. The Orange County District Attorney’s Office has – and will continue to – protect the safety of our elderly residents and ensure that those who do them harm are held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
Richard Towers is facing a maximum sentence of 15 years to life in a state correctional facility.
Authorities are urging anyone with information relevant to the case to contact Santa Ana Police Department Special Crimes Section, Detective M. Thomas (714) 245-8346, or Orange County Crime Stoppers at 1-855-TIP-OCCS.
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