Brooklyn Center woman accused of keeping mother's dead body for more than a month
BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. (FOX 9) - A criminal complaint accuses a Brooklyn Center woman of keeping her mother's dead body in her home for more than a month after her passing, and using air fresheners and candles to try and disguise the smell.
Charges for dead body
What we know:
The 55-year-old woman was charged via summons on Thursday in a case that dates back more than two years. FOX 9 is not identifying the suspect due to the sensitive nature of the case.
Police responded to the suspect's home on 56th Avenue North on Dec. 30, 2022 for a 73-year-old woman who had been found dead.
At the scene, police found the mother's body in the bathroom of the home. Officers say it was clear the mother had been dead for between one and two months. The suspect's ex-husband, who owns the home and reported the body, told officers he hadn't seen the mother in about five weeks, before Thanksgiving.
Police say the ex-husband told them he lived in the basement and only went upstairs occasionally to use the kitchen. He noticed a strange smell and suspected something had died in the wall. Days later, he noticed the smell was stronger near his former mother-in-law's bedroom and went to investigate.
The other side:
According to the complaint, the 55-year-old daughter told police that her mother had died in November, but she hadn't reported the death because she was waiting for "God to resurrect her."
When asked about her mother's medications, the complaint states the daughter admitted to police she had not given her mother the prescriptions a doctor had ordered because she wanted to treat her mother "naturally."
Police say at the home, they noticed Glade plug-ins, Febreze bottles, and candles that were used to try to hide the smell.
The backstory:
The ex-husband told police the mother had become bedridden shortly before her death. The medical examiner told police in January 2023 that an obvious cause of death couldn't be found due to the decomposition of the body. A later ME report listed the cause of death as undetermined but pointed to the mother's medical conditions as the likely cause.
Blood work also showed no evidence that the mother had been taken her prescriptions.