After her 70-year-old sister fell, police allege that a Madison woman and her son left her on the floor without aid. When she died two days later as a result of her injuries, the pair allegedly went out for pizza instead of alerting authorities.
Prosecutors filed a criminal complaint Tuesday against Veronica King, 71, of Madison, and her 45-year-old son Steven King of Evansville, for their involvement in the May 2009 death of Mary Coleman, who lay on her bedroom floor after a fall for two days until she died, the Wisconsin State Journal reports. Steven King told investigators that his injured aunt talked to them while she lay injured on the ground, but he "told her quite frankly to shut up."
The complaint alleges that for more than three months, Veronica and Steven King hid Coleman's body in the basement and garage of the house. When police finally found her remains, they were mummified, the Journal reports. Veronica King told police that the pair didn't call to report her death or have her body removed “because we had other things to do that day,” the complaint states.
For months following Coleman's death, authorities say Veronica King withdrew cash and wrote checks from Coleman's bank account, where the former AT&T employee received automatic pension and Social Security depots, the Journal reports.
Community members expressed concern for Coleman's failing health in the weeks leading up to her May 7, 2009 fall, but Steven King, who suffers from untreated mental illnesses including schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder and Asperger's syndrome, told authorities that on May 6 he and his mother knew that Coleman was sick, but wouldn't take her to the doctor because it was his birthday, according to the complaint.
The pair have been charged with first-degree reckless homicide, bank fraud, hiding a corpse and recklessly subjecting an individual at risk to abuse and are scheduled to appear in court Thursday, according to the Associated Press.
Flickr photo by Lance Catedral.