Disabled Children Lived With Mother’s Decaying Body For 2 Years After Her Death

Police in Davidson County, Tennessee discovered the fully decomposed body of a 56-year-old woman when they went to serve an eviction notice at her apartment at RiverChase Apartments on Joseph Avenue in Nashville, WKRN reports. The discovery of the body of Laronda Jolly was disturbing enough to authorities, but they later realized that her four children, all of whom had intellectual disabilities, had been living with the corpse for the past two years.

1. Jolly is believed to have died in her bed. However, none of the children ever alerted authorities after the event and in fact continued to live in the same house for nearly two years, as one of them admitted to police. All of the children are in fact adults.
2. Her brother believes Laronda had been dead for longer than two years. Anthony Jolly said that he disagreed with police’s estimation that his sister had only died two years ago, saying the level of decomposition seemed even more advanced. “There was nothing left but bones, it was just a skeleton,” he said. “I called my niece, and I asked her how long had my sister been deceased and when she said since early 2017 – I was shocked.”
3. Laronda’s children always evaded questioning by authorities. Anthony said that he repeatedly called to check on his sister, only to be given the runaround by the kids. “Over the last few years my nieces and nephews kept saying, ‘well she’s not here, yada yada …the whole nine yards – so I called Metro to do a wellness check,” he said. The people who performed the wellness check simply told him that Laronda wasn’t at home, an answer they seemed content with.
4. Her children hid her body beneath a pile of clothes. “She was on a bed, they piled clothes on top of her body and they stayed in the apartment with their decaying mother,” Anthony said. “They knew better, but they were going by what their mother said, they were obeying their mother’s wishes – just let her lay there, no matter what. Don’t call anybody, and that’s what they done.”
5. No foul play is suspected. However, the investigation is ongoing. Metro police claim Laronda had a history of seizures but her brother insists he’s unaware of any such health issues.