MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Memphis woman has been locked up nearly five months after police say her boyfriend was transported to the hospital in critical condition from severe neglect.
Tammy Hardin, 57, has been charged with aggravated neglect of an elderly or vulnerable adult.
Police say 63-year -old Larry Rowsey was transported to the Methodist South Hospital on February 25 after his daughters discovered he had been lying on the floor of his Whitehaven home for nearly a week.
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A nurse at the hospital told investigators Rowsey appeared malnourished, smelled of urine and was covered in sores, and had maggots on his body.
A doctor who treated Rowsey said he had several bruises, whelps and what appeared to be a burn mark along his right side.
Rowsey’s children told police they had not been able to contact their father because Hardin had kept him isolated from them. Police said Hardin told detectives that she and Rowsey were engaged, had lived in the same house together for 11 years, and she was responsible for feeding him and making his doctor’s appointments.
Rowsey, who is back at the couple’s home on Bradford Drive, said he spent 19 days in the hospital and 17 weeks in a rehab facility but does not blame Hardin for what happened.
“The burn mark was from a rug burn,” said Rowsey.
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He claims children overreacted and said Hardin was not strong enough to lift him when he fell to the ground. Rowsey said a knee condition makes it difficult for him to get around, and he is now in a hospital bed at his home.
Rowsey said he knows his kids care about him but was surprised when Hardin was arrested at their house Wednesday and would welcome her back.
Hardin will make her first appearance before a judge on Friday.
