Man found dead in home with no AC, GA cops say. Goddaughter accused of neglect
The goddaughter of a man found dead in an Atlanta-area home has been charged with neglect, Georgia police said.
Authorities accused Rachel Ward, 62, of 'willfully depriving' Earl Sylvester Douglas of adequate health care and shelter before his death, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by McClatchy News.
Douglas was reportedly kept in filthy living conditions at the home, which police said didn't have working air conditioning.
Officers were called around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, May 28, about an 'unresponsive male' at the home in Marietta, Cobb County Police said in a May 29 news release. The victim, later identified as Douglas, was pronounced dead.
Authorities couldn't confirm Douglas's age but described him as 'elderly.'
Ward identified herself as his goddaughter, a police spokesperson told McClatchy News, and the affidavit said she had been his caregiver since 2011.
Authorities said Ward didn't seek medical attention for her godfather when he fell ill and his bed sores became infected. As he began losing a 'significant' amount of weight, Ward failed to give him 'adequate nutrition' to keep him healthy, according to police.
In addition to the lack of air conditioning, authorities said Ward didn't clean Douglas's room or bed and left him soiled.
McClatchy News reached out to the Cobb County Medical Examiner's Office for more information May 30 and was awaiting a response.
Ward was arrested and remained in custody at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center without bond as of Friday, online records show.
Marietta is about a 20-mile drive northwest from downtown Atlanta.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
6 hours ago
- New York Times
How MAHA Is Changing New Motherhood
What nobody told Rebecca Villasana-Espinoza about becoming a mother was how it could turn the banalities of day-to-day life into boogeymen, creating all these new possible threats that lurked in the aisles of the grocery store, or in a misstep at the pediatrician's office. Having a newborn was like having a colony of new anxieties implanted in her mind. Was she feeding her child right, using the right chemical-free lotions, posing the right questions to her doctor? Social media and text exchanges about vaccine skepticism combined to sharpen that angst. Ms. Villasana-Espinoza, 29, who lives in the Atlanta area and has a 1-year-old daughter, did not bargain for becoming a mother while, all around her, people were embracing medical skepticism with new ferocity. Ms. Villasana-Espinoza was recently at a church dinner, a weekly event in which families pay $5 and bring their children for boisterous meals with big portions of pasta or taco salad. One mother sat down at the dinner table and brought out her own glass bottle of raw milk. Ms. Villasana-Espinoza, who had grown up in a rural area and had gotten sick several times from drinking raw milk, was taken aback. Her church leans conservative, but its members have fairly conventional views on health. The raw milk seemed to her like a dog whistle for 'Make America Healthy Again' — the slogan and ethos that is now also a presidential commission led by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. In the car ride home, Ms. Villasana-Espinoza and her husband discussed the raw milk moment, and whether that family was likely to be vaccinated. 'The Venn diagram of people who drink raw milk and people who think vaccines are bad for you is basically a circle,' Ms. Villasana-Espinoza recalled saying. Becoming a mother now means confronting a grab bag of voices — on phone screens and on Reddit, but also at school pickup and church — that are critical of the medical establishment, including people skeptical about vaccines and fanatic about drinking raw milk. Doctors say that during the Covid-19 pandemic, large pockets of people, especially parents, lost trust in experts and started doing research into unconventional and discredited ways of caring for themselves. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Associated Press
7 hours ago
- Associated Press
Braves and Red Sox play to decide series winner
Boston Red Sox (28-32, fourth in the AL East) vs. Atlanta Braves (27-30, fourth in the NL East) Atlanta; Sunday, 1:35 p.m. EDT PITCHING PROBABLES: Red Sox: Garrett Crochet (4-4, 2.04 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 89 strikeouts); Braves: Bryce Elder (0-0) BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Red Sox -135, Braves +114; over/under is 8 runs BOTTOM LINE: The Atlanta Braves and Boston Red Sox meet on Sunday with the three-game series tied 1-1. Atlanta is 17-10 in home games and 27-30 overall. The Braves have the seventh-ranked team batting average in the NL at .248. Boston has a 12-18 record in road games and a 28-32 record overall. The Red Sox have the fourth-ranked team batting average in the AL at .252. The teams play Sunday for the sixth time this season. The Braves are ahead 3-2 in the season series. TOP PERFORMERS: Matt Olson has 11 doubles, 12 home runs and 31 RBIs for the Braves. Ronald Acuna is 11 for 30 with two doubles, three home runs and six RBIs over the last 10 games. Wilyer Abreu has eight doubles and 13 home runs for the Red Sox. Abraham Toro is 12 for 32 with three doubles and two home runs over the past 10 games. LAST 10 GAMES: Braves: 3-7, .253 batting average, 3.31 ERA, outscored opponents by four runs Red Sox: 3-7, .245 batting average, 3.73 ERA, outscored by one run INJURIES: Braves: AJ Smith-Shawver: 60-Day IL (calf/elbow), Stuart Fairchild: 10-Day IL (finger), Ignacio Alvarez: 60-Day IL (wrist), Reynaldo Lopez: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Joe Jimenez: 60-Day IL (knee) Red Sox: Liam Hendriks: 15-Day IL (hip), Alex Bregman: 10-Day IL (quadricep), Triston Casas: 60-Day IL (knee), Masataka Yoshida: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Kutter Crawford: 60-Day IL (knee), Tanner Houck: 15-Day IL (flexor), Romy Gonzalez: 10-Day IL (back), Chris Murphy: 60-Day IL (elbow), Patrick Sandoval: 60-Day IL (elbow) ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Yahoo
Good News: 4-year-old honorary firefighter celebrates end of cancer treatments
Four-year-old Austin Herre, of Atlanta, celebrated with his family and care team after he rang the bell at the end of his cancer treatments. It comes after he was named an honorary firefighter with the nearby Cherokee County Fire Department in Georgia. NBC News' Jose Diaz-Balart has this inspiring story and more in this week's Good News Wrap-Up.
