Background: Boyce Street in Spring Hill, Fla., where Jason Thomas Russell lived with his mother (Google Maps). Inset: Jason Thomas Russell (Hernando County Detention Center).
A Florida man faces felony neglect charges after his mother was found in “deplorable” condition and later died.
Jason Thomas Russell, 47, was living with his 79-year-old mother in Spring Hill and was her primary caregiver. According to an arrest affidavit reviewed by Law&Crime, he called 911 on Sept. 18 when he noticed that she had a bleeding wound on her elbow and could not determine whether she was conscious. The report stated that he told dispatchers that her “eyes were open, and she was snoring and gurgling.”
When Russell and his mother arrived at the hospital by ambulance, she was observed by medical staff to be in “deplorable physical condition,” with “multiple open sores,” covered in human waste, and “infested with maggots,” police said.
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Before Russell and his mother left the home they shared to go to the hospital, the affidavit stated that Russell “did not make any statements” to the first responders who arrived on the scene. The Fire Rescue personnel who were there reportedly saw Russell go back into the garage to fetch a “bottle of liquor.” Russell also reportedly “would not let them” go into the house to get the woman”s medications.
According to the affidavit, once his mother was loaded into the ambulance, Russell went back into the home and refused to come outside, telling sheriff’s deputies to “get a search warrant.” When he finally came outside, deputies informed him that they needed to secure the home as a crime scene, at which point Russell allegedly became “uncooperative.” His alleged refusal to obey orders landed him in handcuffs.
When Russell was asked by police how his mother ended up in the condition she was in, he told them that she “did not let him touch her or assist her.” Police told Russell that his mother was “rotting,” indicating that it had taken some time for her to decline this much. Russell told police that his mother’s condition had gotten worse in the past six months and she “refused” to go to the hospital.
The Tampa Free Press reported that Russell’s mother died on Sept. 20, after Russell was charged with abuse and neglect of an elderly person and resisting an officer without violence. The State Attorney’s Office will now decide whether Russell will face upgraded charges.
Russell is currently in custody at the Hernando County Detention Center, where he is being held without bond. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Oct. 22.
