Handicapped Pike County man dies after being kept in 'horrific' living conditions, police say
Michael Hammond and Lauri Parker
PIKE COUNTY, Ga. - A handicapped Pike County man is dead after being kept in "horrific" living conditions in a basement, according to the Pike County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies from the sheriff's officer responded to a report of an unresponsive person at a resident on Whitfield Walk on May 19.
Upon arrival, they found 40-year-old Dennis Robertson in the basement of the home. He was deceased. Investigators noted that the entire home was extremely filthy and unkempt and determined that Robertson spent a large amount of his time inside just one room in the basement. They also discovered that the door had been modified to lock from the outside.
Robertson's caregivers, 46-year-old Michael Hammond and 59-year-old Lauri Parker, were arrested and charged with neglect of a disabled adult and are facing the possibility of addition charges. Investigators are waiting for the results of an autopsy by the medical examiner to assist in determining those charges.
The sheriff's office says it cannot reveal additional details at this time but investigators working the case deemed it to be "one of the worst cases of neglect that they have seen."