CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – A couple from Cumberland Furnace were convicted Thursday of negligent homicide in the death of a 65-year-old woman in their care who was found riddled with bed sores on a mattress on the floor.

William “Bill” Norris Greene, 61, and his wife, Deadra Tidwell Greene, 56, were each initially charged with one count of second-degree murder and one count of physical abuse of an impaired adult in the death of Bill’s sister, Elsie Mae Greene, who died July 17, 2018.

Jurors came back with a conviction on the lesser charge of negligent homicide, and a conviction on the abuse charge early Thursday afternoon after five days of testimony a day and a half of deliberations. William and Deadra Greene sit next to attorney Shelby Silva as testimony is given during regarding the death of William’s 65-year-old sister Elsie. (Adria Hyde) DA: Bedsores didn’t happen overnight

In her closing argument, Assistant District Attorney Crystal Morgan told jurors that Elsie Mae Greene, who had Parkinson’s disease, simply wasn’t cared for. “She was left to lay on a thin mattress in a corner of a room, that didn’t have air conditioning, in Middle Tennessee through hot summer months,” Morgan told jurors. “She had Parkinson’s; she needed some assistance.”

Elsie Mae had been with the defendants for a year and a half, following a fall that resulted in an injury to her hip.

Morgan told jurors the first person other than the Greenes to lay eyes on Elsie Mae in that year and a half was Montgomery County paramedic Barry Spencer, who responded to a 911 call for help when Elsie Mae became nonverbal and nonresponsive.

Spencer said he found the woman lying in her own waste, malnourished, unresponsive and with a blood pressure of 50/30.

Morgan also reminded jurors that medical examiner Dr. Thomas Deering testified that open bedsores were the cause of death. Photographs displayed during the trial showed nine open bed sores in varying stages of decay that caused Elsie Mae to develop sepsis.

Morgan argued that the bed sores that extensive “didn’t happen overnight.”

“That’s the condition these defendants allowed Elsie to be in; they waited until death was imminent before they called for assistance,” she said.

Attorneys for the defense told the jury that William and Deadra Greene simply followed the wishes of the deceased, which was to not be in a nursing home and to not have to go to the hospital.

William Greene’s attorney, John Parker, pointed out that although the prosecution alleged Elsie was covered in feces, there was no photographic evidence of such gross negligence.

“Never once did Barry Spencer mention Miss Elsie Greene was covered in feces, although he did admit his report was full of errors,” Parker said.

Parker also argued that the medical examiner’s testimony regarding the autopsy stated the death of Elsie Greene was probably a homicide, noting that was not enough to convict his client of murder, since the law declared prosecution had to proof guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Deadra Greene’s defense attorney, Shelby Silvey, pointed out even the medical examiner struggled with his determination of the cause of death, and there were many missing pieces which would have made it easier to decide. “The medical examiner said, ‘I would have liked to have had her story,'” she said.

Silvey also reminded jurors that Deering said if it were homicide, it could have been intentional or it could have been passive. “He did the best he could to come to this probable conclusion, and said there were no signs of intentional abuse,” Silvey said.

Silvey also told jurors that although Elsie Mae Greene never got the chance to tell her story to anyone, pieces of her story did exist. “(We) have a medical record where she says I am ready to go home,” Silvey said. Next up: sentencing

Morgan said the couple each faces two to four years in prison on the negligent homicide charge and three to six years on the abuse charge.

Judge Robert Bateman will announce the sentencing Oct 5.

Outside the courtroom, Connie Durr, one of Elsie Mae Greene’s siblings, said, “I think justice has been served.”

Correction: The Greenes were convicted on the lesser charge of negligent homicide, not second-degree murder as was previously reported. The article has been updated. 

Adria Hyde is a reporter for Clarksville Now. She can be reached at (931)-648-7720 ext. 547. or AHyde@clarksvillenow.com.