NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The community is wondering how four intellectually impaired adults hid their mother's death for more than a year.
Last week, Laronda Jolly was found dead on a bed with clothes piled on top of her when deputies were serving an eviction notice at the RiverChase Apartments.
Police said Jolly's four intellectually impaired adult children lived with the mother's body. An autopsy report says that Jolly could have died more than a year ago.
"She can rest in peace now."
A family friend, who does not want to be identified, said she went over to knock on the door several times when she hadn't heard from Laronda.
"The last time I saw her alive, it was 2017 when she asked me to bring her some food by… When I went by there, they wouldn’t even open the door all the way up, they would say she was asleep, or she wasn’t there."
Eventually, she said they stopped answering the door. Then, one of Jolly's daughters posted on Facebook that her mom was sick, and they needed money for food. "I don’t know how they ate, I don’t know how they paid rent, I don’t know how they survived."
The friend feels guilty she didn't call authorities to do a welfare check, and she's still trying to wrap her head around how this could happen. "The system not only failed her, they failed the kids." She wants to encourage people to seek help if they have loved ones who may be shutting other people out.
The friend described Laronda Jolly as a positive woman who was happy go lucky. According to the medical examiner, no foul play is suspected in her death.
