SANTA ANA, Calif. - A Santa Ana man was charged with murdering his elderly mother on Wednesday, after she died from septic shock days after being taken from a home with "hoarder-like conditions," officials said.
Richard Towers is facing felony charges of murder and inflicting injury on an elder adult.
Towers' 82-year-old mom was rushed to the hospital back on Jan. 15, after officials said he called 911 claiming his mom was unresponsive when he tried to wake her up. When paramedics got to the home, they found the woman had wounds on her body that "would have taken weeks to develop," as well as another sore that had exposed the bone on her hip, the Orange County District Attorney's Office said in a press release.
The mother was diagnosed with septic shock and died 10 days later, on Jan. 25.
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In addition to the woman's condition, when paramedics found her, they found the floors of the home were covered in urine and feces, as well as cockroaches and bugs inside the refrigerator where the mother kept her insulin. The home also didn't have running water.
According to the OC DA's office, there were previous concerns at this home. Officials said law enforcement tried to perform a welfare check on this same home in December 2023, but Towers "prevented law enforcement from access to the woman."
"The cruelty involved to allow your own mother to suffer in what undoubtedly was excruciating pain is unconscionable," OC DA Todd Spitzer said in a press release. "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."
Towers faces a maximum of 15 years to life in state prison if convicted on all counts.