CINCINNATI, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- An Ohio man has been charged in the death of his wife, as authorities allege he allowed maggots to eat her flesh while she was still alive.
Darrel White, 65, of Madisonville, was charged with involuntary manslaughter in the July 23 death of his wife, Jorene, 46, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported.
"This is a horrible case," Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said. "We have never seen anything like this before. She was literally being eaten alive by maggots."
White is accused of allowing his 46-year-old wife to die by not seeking medical care for her or taking care of her while she was sick.
Jorene White was bedridden following a 2003 hospital stay for severe arthritis, court documents showed.
The hospital "recommended further treatment," Assistant Prosecutor Mark Piepmeier said. "They just took her home. She just rotted away. It's just pitiful."
Police responding to a 911 call to the Whites' home believed she had been dead for a week because of the state of the body's decomposition and the large number of maggots.
But the Hamilton County coroner said she had been dead only one day when police arrived, meaning the maggots had been eating her body when she was alive.
The cause of death was sepsis, an infection of the blood system, the coroner's office said.
