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Murder charges have been filed in California against an 80-year-old woman who managed a controversial California foster home for children with severe disabilities that has been shuttered since 2019.
In a statement issued on Monday, Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin revealed that grand jurors returned a 14-count indictment against the owners and operators of Morris Small Family Home near Murrieta.
Morris and her husband, Edward Lawrence “Larry” Kerin, are both named in the indictment, but are charged with separate crimes.
Morris, who remains behind bars on $1 million bail, is charged with second-degree murder for the April 6, 2019, death of 17-year-old Diane “Princess” Ramirez, one of the foster children under her supervision at the time.
According to investigators, Morris was told Ramirez, who had cerebral palsy but was otherwise healthy, was prone to intestinal kinks known as volvulus. However, officials allege Morris did not rush Ramirez to the emergency room, even as the teen writhed in agony for hours and vomited blood.
Morris, the statement alleges, “refused to seek help for Diane,” who “had been in pain for an estimated eight or nine hours.”
Riverside County DA’s Office
Only Morris, who opened the home during the 1990s, is charged with the killing. Kerin, who posted bail for his release, is charged with child neglect stemming from Ramirez’s death.
Both Morris and Kerin each face two counts of lewd acts on a dependent adult, involving two separate victims. In addition, Morris faces another count of lewd acts on a dependent adult, involving a third victim.
Detectives launched an investigation into the teen’s killing, which “uncovered what is alleged to be several years of physical abuse and neglect of dependent children and adults, along with sexual abuse against three dependent adults who had been placed in the home,” the statement reads.
The Orange County Registerreportsthat Morris had long been a lightning rod for controversy, and over the years was the subject of several abuse allegations.
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According to theRegister, one of the foster children Morris adopted was married to a man during a formal backyard ceremony in 2014. The foster child, who has the intellectual capacity of a kindergartner, was led to believe the ceremony was actually a baptism. A judge later ruled that he did not have the capacity to consent to marriage and an intimate relationship.
It was unclear if either defendant had entered pleas to the charges against them. Lawyer information was unavailable.
Anyone who may have information pertinent to this case, or who may have been a victim, is urged to contact D.A. Investigator Tom Rogers via email at tomrogers@rivcoda.org.
source: people.com
