News 12 at 11 o'clock / Friday, August 26, 2011

MARTINEZ, Ga. -- Deputy Coroner Harriett Garrison is around death a lot, but what she saw Thursday night doesn't compare to anything she's ever seen before.

"On entering the bedroom where Ms. Blanche was found, my heart was broken," she told News 12.

"We were called [Thursday] afternoon around 6 o'clock to conduct an investigation at 3684 Locks Hill which is in Martinez. Investigators discovered 85 year old Blanche Carpenter died under suspicious circumstances," said Captain Steve Morris with Columbia County Sheriff's Office.

Investigators were back on the scene Friday afternoon. They searched through vehicles and in the home where it all happened.

"Two caregivers, who are also family members, were subsequently charged with cruelty," said Captain Morris.

Those two caregivers are 48 year-old Deborah Hill and 18 year-old Brittany Hurst. They've been charged with cruelty to a person 65 years or older.

"I could never, never imagine doing that to another human being," said Deputy Coroner Garrison.

She worked the case Thursday night. She said besides the suspects and the deceased, there were three children in the house—9, 11, and 16 years old—as well as Deborah Hill's husband and grandmother.

Hill told the coroner Carpenter was alive just hours before, but Garrison is doubtful.

"This lady had been deceased for one-and-a-half to two days in my opinion," she said.

Garrison says they are images and smells she'll never forget. There were multiple sores on Carpenter's body, and there was feces of nearly 30 cats and a few dogs littered throughout the house.

"Cat feces. Urine. Describing it does not describe it," she said.

Captain Morris says Deborah Hill's elderly grandmother, Ruth McClendon, has been taken to Doctor's Hospital. Garrison says she appeared to show signs of neglect as well.

Medical examiners are now doing an autopsy on Carpenter's body. Captain Morris says the investigation is just beginning, and more charges may come soon.

Garrison says they had only recently moved into the home in Martinez. They moved there from Albany, Georgia.

Hill's children were taken into protective custody. Her husband is also in Adult Protective Services.