ROANE COUNTY, Tenn. — A husband and wife have been found guilty of neglecting and murdering a 72-year-old relative who starved to death.
On June 7, 2019, 9th Judicial District Attorney General Russell Johnson said 72-year-old Betty Crews died from malnutrition and neglect.
According to chief deputy Tim Phillips with the Roane County Sheriff's Office, Christopher and Evelyn Kennedy were taken into custody and charged with first-degree murder in Crews' death in 2019.
Johnson said Crews was Evelyn Kennedy's aunt.
According to Johnson, Evelyn Kennedy's daughter called 911 on April 5, 2019, to have her admitted to the Roane Medical Center in Harriman. The sheriff's department and Adult Protective Services were notified and began investigating after staff noticed she was very malnourished.
Johnson said Crews stayed in the care of the Roane Medical Center for two months and had been "barely clinging to life" before she died two months later.
"In spite of all measures to treat Crews’ condition, she expired on June 7, 2019. Knox Regional Forensic Center Director and Chief Medical Examiner Darinka Mileusenic-Polchan testified that the autopsy of Crews determined that her death was the result of complications from starvation and dehydration that was so pervasive over so long a period, that Crews was unable to overcome the damage even while under the care of RMC for two months," Johnson said.
Both suspects were indicted by a Roane County Grand Jury for felony murder and taken into custody on Oct 23, 2019.
Years later, their trial began. A jury was selected on July 12, 2022, and attorneys read their opening statements the same day.
Testimony in the trial revealed the Kennedys had received Crews' social security disability checks during the entire time they had her in their home. The two claimed they fed Crews hot dogs, chicken nuggets and macaroni and claimed they told the doctor she had been hiding the food in her sheets and they had not known it for months.
The state testified Crews did not even have bed sheets, and witnesses claimed she lived in "deplorable" conditions.
During the fourth and final day of the trial on Friday, July 15, Johnson said Christopher Kennedy did not return to court. He was not in custody at the time of the trial because he posted bond after his 2019 arrest. Johnson said his lawyer did not have an explanation for his absence, so the final day of the trial continued without him.
The jury returned a guilty verdict on both counts for the Kennedys, and the judge sentenced Evelyn Kennedy to life in prison. Johnson said this means the 50-year-old will not be eligible for parole for the next 51 years. She will be sentenced for the charge of aggravated neglect of an elderly adult on November 18.
Authorities are still looking for Christopher Kennedy to arrest him and sentence him. Anyone with information about his whereabouts should call 911.