BELLMEAD, TX – A woman is facing charges after authorities discovered her father’s badly decomposed remains inside the mobile home they shared, with evidence suggesting she never reported his death.
Crystal Martin, 44, was arrested Wednesday and charged with abuse of a corpse and resisting arrest after health care workers conducting a wellness check found her 66-year-old father dead in their residence on East Harris Avenue. She’s being held at McLennan County Jail on a $5,000 bond.
The grim discovery happened shortly before 3 p.m. when medical personnel showed up at the mobile home in the 4000 block to check on Jerry Freeman’s wellbeing. What they found instead was Freeman’s body in an advanced state of decomposition, prompting an immediate call to police.
According to the arrest warrant, responding officers observed significant bloating and lividity on Freeman’s corpse, indicating he’d been dead for quite some time. The condition of the body, combined with extreme filth throughout the home attributed to multiple dogs living inside, painted a disturbing picture of the living conditions.
Martin had been living with her father at the mobile home since 2009, making her the only other person residing at the property. Despite his death, she apparently continued living there without notifying anyone or seeking help.
Bellmead Police Chief Shawn Myatt said investigators don’t believe foul play was involved in Freeman’s actual death. The charges against Martin stem from her alleged failure to properly report the death and the condition in which the body was found.
The abuse of a corpse charge typically applies when someone fails to give proper notification of a death or doesn’t handle remains in a lawful manner. Prosecutors will have to prove Martin knew her father had died and deliberately chose not to contact authorities or make funeral arrangements.
It’s unclear exactly how long Freeman had been deceased before the wellness check. Medical examiners will work to determine both the cause of death and establish a timeline for when he died.
Martin also faces a separate charge of resisting arrest, suggesting she didn’t cooperate when officers tried to take her into custody. Details about that confrontation weren’t immediately available from police.
The investigation is ongoing as authorities try to piece together what happened and why Martin allegedly let her father’s body decompose in their home rather than reporting his death.
