News footage of Alvin Ray Riggs, left, in court with his lawyer on Aug. 22 (KLTV).
A Texas man who was arrested on charges of injury to an elderly person tried to get a plea deal to avoid prison time — and a judge rejected him.
Alvin Ray Riggs, 53, made a court appearance on Friday after he and his defense lawyer submitted a plea bargain, hoping for a probationary sentence. Riggs faced arrest in March after he took his mother to the emergency room, where medical personnel suspected neglect and notified the authorities.
Based on an arrest affidavit reviewed by Law&Crime, Riggs’ mother was under his care when he purportedly left her in a chair for nearly two weeks. Riggs informed police that his mother, diagnosed with dementia years ago, was “crazy and mean” and would “fight” him during attempts to take her to the bathroom.
The affidavit said that when the woman’s clothing was removed at the hospital, her “skin came off with the clothes she was wearing.”
Local ABC affiliate KLTV reported from the courtroom that Riggs and his lawyer suggested a plea deal that included probation. However, District Judge Kerry Russell reportedly expressed that the pre-sentencing report was among the worst he had ever encountered, as noted by KLTV. Judge Russell dismissed the plea agreement, but indicated that a jury could still determine a probationary sentence.
A trial was scheduled for Sept. 15.
The March arrest affidavit detailed the living conditions Riggs’ elderly mother endured while under his care at his Longview home. Police reports state that in February, the woman had been hospitalized with multiple sores from prolonged exposure to her own waste. Medical staff had to cut off seven shirts that were adhered to her skin due to the difficulty of removing them without causing additional wounds.
She was diagnosed with septic shock, a urinary tract infection, and blood clots, among other health complications. The medical personnel cautioned Riggs that his mother’s condition might be life-threatening, describing him as having a “flat affect” during interactions.
Police indicated that Riggs mentioned his mother had been diagnosed with dementia about seven to eight years earlier and had been living with him for three years before her hospitalization. When questioned about her condition, Riggs described her as “sitting in the hospital with ‘dementia like crazy,'” and labeled her as “crazy and mean.”
When asked why he did not take his mother to use the bathroom, Riggs said that if anyone tried to that, she would “fight you.” He told police he did not attempt to clean or bathe his mother because she “always took care of herself.”
Riggs was booked into Smith County Jail after he was arrested in March. He was being held on $2.5 million bond before he was released from custody in July. He is scheduled to go to trial on Sept. 15.
