Children Lived in House With Body of Decomposing Mother for up to Two Years, Officials Say

A mother's decomposing body was found under a pile of clothes by officers who had visited the family's Tennessee home to serve an eviction notice.

Metro Nashville Police officers discovered the remains of Laronda Jolly on a bed in Riverchase Apartments, in Joseph Avenue, last Wednesday.

The 56-year-old shared the home with her four adult children, who each have learning difficulties, WTVF reported.

Now investigators are working to establish exactly how she died. Police said there were no clear signs of foul play and added that Jolly reportedly suffered from seizures.

Investigators believe that, due to the level of decomposition, Jolly had been dead for around two years, WKRN reported.

The woman's brother, Anthony Jolly, told the station he was not aware of his sister ever having seizures and suggested that she could have been dead for even longer.

"There was nothing left but bones, it was just a skeleton," he said.

"I called my niece and I asked her how long had my sister been deceased and when she said 'since early 2017' I was shocked."

He said that although he and his sister were not close, he would phone her up. "Over the last few years my nieces and nephews kept saying 'well she's not here', the whole nine yards, so I called Metro [Police] to do a wellness check."

Jolly said officers were not able to make contact with his sister during the check in August. "She was on a bed, they piled clothes on top of her body and they stayed in the apartment with their decaying mother," he added.

"They knew better but they were going by what their mother said, they were obeying their mother's wishes - just let her lay there, no matter what. Don't call anybody and that's what they done."

Laronda Jolly's remains have been sent to the medical examiner's office for autopsy.
The Nashville Inner City Ministry is working to find housing for her children.