White Plains, NY - The Westchester County District Attorney's office announced that James Austin, 46, of Hartsdale, New York, was convicted after a jury trial of: one count of Manslaughter in connection with the death of his 71 year old mother, Ida Austin.

On July 3, 2011, at approximately 9:09 a.m., Town of Greenburgh Police arrived at a private house in Hartsdale in response to a 911 call from James Austin, who indicated that he had found his mother “unresponsive”.

Uniformed officers found the victim lying on a couch, deceased, with rigor mortis having set in. The victim was covered in maggots and other insects that were infesting the area where she was found.  She was lying in excrement and urine, naked from the waist down revealing large open bed sores. She was partially covered in a filthy blanket and wearing a dirty shirt.

She was also extremely emaciated and dehydrated.

There was garbage surrounding the deceased and the house was filled with thousands of maggots.

The victim was removed to the morgue and an investigation into the death commenced.

The cause of death was found to have been starvation, dehydration, infection and stage four bed sores.

The defendant was subsequently arrested by Greenburgh Police.

“This defendant was the principal caregiver for his elderly mother. Instead of reaching out for help, he consciously ignored her declining physical and mental health, leaving her unattended for hours at a time. His total abdication of responsibility resulted in utterly abhorrent and deplorable conditions in the home and the ignominious death of his mother,” said District Attorney Janet DiFiore after the jury’s verdict.

Sentencing will be on August 7th, 2012.

The defendant faces a maximum fifteen years in state prison.

Assistant District Attorney Lana Hochheiser, Deputy Chief of the Career Criminal Bureau, and Assistant District Attorney Joyce Miller prosecuted the case.

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