A 61-year-old woman, Bernice Jarrett, has been arrested and charged with felony neglect in Tennessee. Jarrett was responsible for the care of six disabled adults whom she was transporting in a yellow bus from Texas to Virginia. The Memphis Police Department reported the arrest on Tuesday.
The police were alerted to the situation when they responded to a medical call at a Goodyear Tire location. Upon arrival, they discovered the bus, which had a trailer attached, and found five intellectually disabled adults and one adult with dementia inside. One of the passengers had been critically injured the previous day by another passenger on the bus, but had not received any medical attention.
The police reported that the six passengers were living in deplorable conditions, with no running water, no food, and overall uninhabitable and inhumane conditions. In addition to the adults, there were three goats in the trailer.
During the journey from Texas, Jarrett, who was identified by the police as the caregiver of the passengers, allegedly stayed in hotels alone, leaving 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.