A Tennessee woman, aged 61, has been apprehended and faces felony neglect charges. The woman, identified as Bernice Jarrett, was tasked with the care of six disabled adults. She was transporting these individuals in a yellow bus from Texas to Virginia when the incident occurred. The Memphis Police Department made the arrest public on Tuesday.
The police were tipped off about the situation when they responded to a medical emergency at a Goodyear Tire establishment. Upon reaching the scene, they discovered the bus, which had a trailer attached. Inside, they found five intellectually disabled adults and one adult suffering from dementia. One of the passengers had been critically injured the previous day by another passenger on the bus and had not received any medical attention.
The police revealed that the six passengers were living in appalling conditions, with no access to running water or food. The living conditions were deemed uninhabitable and inhumane. In addition to the adults, there were three goats in the trailer.
During the journey from Texas, Jarrett, identified by the police as the caregiver of the passengers, allegedly lodged in hotels alone. She left the adults and goats in the bus and trailer overnight without supervision. The police reported that all of the adults were in a dire state, wearing dirty clothes and showing signs of malnutrition. All of them were taken to the hospital, with one in critical condition.
Local news outlet WMC reported that one of the adults had passed away, a fact that was confirmed on Wednesday by the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office. However, it was not confirmed if the critically injured passenger was the one who had died.
Jarrett was arrested by the Memphis Police Department and is currently being held in the county jail on an $80,000 bond. She faces six counts of aggravated neglect of an elderly or vulnerable adult and five counts of neglect of a vulnerable adult, totaling 11 felony charges. She is scheduled to appear in court on April 11. The goats found in the trailer are now under the care of Memphis Animal Services.