Owners of controversial foster care facility for children with severe disabilities charged with abuse and murder after teenager was found dead

Husband and wife, owners of a controversial California based foster care facility for children with severe disabilities condition, will probably spend lifetime in prison if found guilty over the teenager’s death who was allegedly abused before she was murdered. According to the court reports, the woman is facing murder charges while her husband sexual abuse charges.

The incident happened in the California based foster care facility that was shut down in 2019 and the 80-year-old who was managing the foster care is now officially facing murder charges.

In a statement issued on August 9, Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin revealed that grand jurors returned a 14-count indictment against the owners and operators of Morris Small Family Home near Murrieta.

Both the wife and her husband are named in the indictment, but are facing different charges, the District Attorney said.

The 80-year-old woman named M. Morris, was already arrested and held on a $1 million bail. She is facing second-degree murder charges in the death of the 17-year-old D. Ramirez in an incident that happened on April 6, 2019. When the death occurred, the teenager was under the foster care’s supervision.

According to investigators, Morris was told Ramirez, who had cerebral palsy but was otherwise healthy, was prone to intestinal kinks known as volvulus. However, officials allege Morris did not rush Ramirez to the emergency room, even as the teen writhed in agony for hours and vomited blood.

Morris, the statement alleges, “refused to seek help for Diane,” who “had been in pain for an estimated eight or nine hours.”

The woman has been running the foster care since the 90s. She is the only one charged in a connection to the teenager’s death, while her husband was released from prison after the posted the bail. He is facing child neglect charges stemming from Ramirez’s death.

Both Morris and Kerin each face two counts of lewd acts on a dependent adult, involving two separate victims. In addition, Morris faces another count of lewd acts on a dependent adult, involving a third victim.

Detectives launched an investigation into the teen’s killing, which “uncovered what is alleged to be several years of physical abuse and neglect of dependent children and adults, along with sexual abuse against three dependent adults who had been placed in the home,” the statement reads.

“Many of the victims were non-ambulatory and unable to speak, requiring 24-hour care,” the statement adds. “Some of the adult dependent residents were found to lack the mental capacity to give consent but engaged in sexual activities facilitated and encouraged by both defendants.”

It was unclear if either defendant had entered pleas to the charges against them. Lawyer information was unavailable.