An Augusta woman imprisoned for six years should be home for Christmas following her plea Thursday, Dec. 15, to concealing the death of her severely disabled adult son.
Angela Mercer, 53, was initially only charged with concealing the death of another in October 2012. But after a medical examiner changed the manner of 23-year-old Robin Lee Adams’ death from undetermined to homicide – based on questionable evidence as Assistant District Attorney Joshua Smith acknowledged Thursday – Mercer was indicted on a charge of murder.
Adams suffered from a rare genetic disease, cri-du chat syndrome. He couldn’t talk or walk or perform any daily activity such as feeding himself or grooming. He also vomited every time he was fed and attempts to provide nourishment through a feeding tube or IV was impossible unless he was tied down, according to court testimony and documents as The Augusta Press has previously reported.
Mercer was convicted of murder after a one-day bench trial in June 2016. She was sentenced to life in prison.
But Smith conceded at a hearing earlier this month that the prosecution didn’t prove Mercer intended to abuse or neglect her son and was entitled to a new trial. Smith went further on Thursday by agreeing with defense attorney Tanya Jeffords that hearsay evidence was wrongfully presented at Mercer’s bench trial.
Jeffords said Thursday that Mercer was her son’s only caregiver throughout his life. She stopped taking him to doctors in 2008 after a doctor told her there was nothing medically to be done. The visits left Adams so upset that Mercer thought it was better to take care of him at home, Jeffords said.
Adams mummified remains were found in his room at Mercer’s home in October 2012. Mercer just lost it mentally after she found him dead in February 2012, Jeffords said.
Mercer was initially charged with concealing the death of another. The medical examiner listed Adams’ cause of death as undetermined. He changed that finding to homicide after consulting a forensic anthropologist who opined Adams’ bones revealed anemia. Because anemia can lead to malnutrition and that can lead to death, Dr. Daniel Brown said he changed Adams’ cause of death to homicide.
Thursday Smith said the forensic anthropologist’s findings are questionable because she compared the density of Adams’ bones to those from healthy people, not from anyone suffering from genetic disease like Adams.
Judge John Flythe accepted the plea negotiation and sentenced Mercer six years incarceration, which she has already served, and four years on probation. He also sentenced her under the First Offender Act.
Mercer is expected to be released from prison as soon as the paperwork is filed with the clerk’s office and transmitted to the Department of Corrections.
