Thursday, June 30, 2011

Richland County, SC: Deputies: Wife Gave Paraplegic Veteran Husband Pills to Kill Him

Richland County, SC (WLTX) -- Deputies say a 68-year-old woman killed her paraplegic bedridden husband by giving him too strong a dose of prescription medication.

Investigators with the Richland County Sheriff's Department charged Carol Kring Ross of Bee Ridge Drive in the Spring Valley community with murder after they arrested her Wednesday evening.

Sheriff Leon Lott said an autopsy report said the victim died of an overdose of prescription medication that was prescribed to him. Medication prescribed to Ross was also found in his system, according to the same autopsy report.

Deputies say they received a call before 6 p.m. from Ross, and they say the woman threatened to kill herself. When authorities arrived to the home, the couple's daughter told them that Ross had given her father "too many pills."

Investigators arrived to find the man, who did not have arms or legs, unresponsive in his bed. The man was immediately transported to the Dorn Veterans Administration Hospital on Garners Ferry Road.

The daughter said she came home from school to find her father saying, "your mother gave me too many pills," according to deputies.

"This is a tragic situation," Lott said in a written statement. "If at any time you feel too stressed in situations such as this, seek help."

Lott said the victim had been bedridden for five years, with no way to take care of himself. He said Ross was the man's primary caregiver and was responsible for his health.

Lott said, "This is just a senseless killing that could have been avoided."

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