‘I loved him ... but I failed him’: Rock Hill woman sentenced for neglect in boyfriend’s death

Crystal Perdue sobbed quietly Friday as she admitted to a judge that she failed to take care of the man she loved, and that her lack of care – and the deplorable condition of their Rock Hill home – eventually caused his death.

Perdue received probation after pleading guilty to unlawful neglect of a vulnerable adult resulting in death for the 2012 death of her boyfriend, 41-year-old Jonathan Earle. Earle, who was blind and suffered from a number of health conditions including diabetes and multiple sclerosis, was brought to the emergency room in May 2012 dehydrated, filthy and covered in open bedsores and bug bites.

“I loved him with all my heart, but I failed him,” Perdue said, choking back tears before the sentencing. “I was ignorant. I was incapable of taking care of him. All I wanted was for him to get better. I hoped and prayed for that every day.”

The mother of two faced up to 30 years in prison, but Circuit Court Judge Daniel Hall showed compassion and sentenced her to 10 years suspended to five years’ probation. In exchange for her plea, the state dismissed two counts of unlawful neglect of a child.

Prosecutors and detectives painted a ghastly picture of the Greenbriar Circle home that they said was “saturated” with garbage, insects and feces. Deputy 16th Circuit Solicitor Willy Thompson said the garbage was in every room and was knee-high in some parts.

A detective said she couldn’t get into some rooms because of the garbage, and they had to request crime scene investigators with biohazard suits and masks to take pictures in the home.

Earle had been discharged from a hospital stay in March 2012 and was living in the Greenbriar Circle home with Perdue and her two children. She called 911 the night of May 23, 2012, after his catheter began bleeding, Assistant Solicitor Erin Joyner said.

Emergency room personnel found multiple bedsores and bites from insects and roaches all over Perdue, who also had a urinary tract infection and a blood-sugar level so high “it was unreadable,” Joyner said. Doctors and nurses reported a “putrid” smell coming from Earle, who had been sleeping on a couch and lying in his own urine and feces. His catheter was growing mold.

Earle was admitted to the hospital’s intensive care unit, Joyner said. He died Sept. 9, 2012 – his 41st birthday. The state upgraded the charges against Perdue after Earle’s death.

Prosecutors said Perdue put curtains up in the windows so people couldn’t see into the home, and that on the night she called 911, she put Earle in a wheelchair, pushed him onto the porch and closed the door so paramedics couldn’t see into the home.

A home health care employee who conducted an assessment in early March 2012 reported that Earle had only one bedsore, and gave Perdue instructions on how to care for him, Joyner said. Perdue wouldn’t return calls to the home health care service after that, and when an employee finally visited the home, Perdue told her she had been unreachable because she was out of town for her mother’s funeral. Her mother is still alive.

Perdue lied not only to the home health care service but also to investigators, prosecutors said.

Earle’s father, Charlie Earle, fought back tears while trying to read a statement.

“She needs to have her freedom taken away,” he said.

Earle’s mother and stepfather said they bought the home Earle and Perdue lived in, and even helped them with bills.

“This didn’t have to happen,” said Earle’s mother, Sandra Helms. “This didn’t have to happen.”

Perdue’s lawyer said Perdue had a “troubled” past that included her father being murdered, being assaulted at a young age and realizing her first husband and the father of her children “had an entirely separate family,” for whom he reportedly left Perdue and her children after she confronted him.

Perdue met Earle while they both worked at Wal-Mart, and his health began deteriorating soon after they started dating, defense attorney Mindy Lipinski said. She said Earle was very independent and “didn’t want to be a burden” on others. Even during the few months he lived in a nursing home, Lipinski said, he refused to eat and his health declined.

Perdue tried to tell Earle she couldn’t care for him on her own, Lipinski said. “He would say, ‘If you tell anybody, I’m gonna end up in a nursing home.’ ”

“Certainly, she has to accept the responsibility that she did not do enough to elevate his quality of life,” she said of Perdue. “I think she lives with that responsibility every time I talk to her. To say it was malicious negligence or that she didn’t love him, I think that’s contradictory to what you see of her.”

Thompson, the solicitor, said after the sentencing that he understood Earle liked being an independent person.

“I think, quite honestly, he didn’t want to burden anyone with his care,” Thompson said. “It doesn’t matter, at some point, what they want, because you have to know what’s best for them.”

This story was originally published August 1, 2015 at 12:03 AM.