In a disturbing case out of Michigan, a woman stands accused of imprisoning her disabled relative in a basement, subjecting her to continuous loud music and severe malnutrition, authorities report.
Tasha Beamon, aged 48, faces charges of vulnerable adult abuse and unlawful imprisonment. These charges arose after Beamon’s sister-in-law managed to break free from her captivity on March 15, bravely breaking a neighbor’s window to seek help.
Once the neighbor called 911, the 58-year-old woman revealed to police that Beamon, who was married to her late brother, had kept her confined in the basement of a Saginaw home for two years, as reported by local news outlet MLive.
“She informed officers that she was rarely fed and had no access to water,” stated Saginaw Police Detective Sgt. Jeff Doud to the press.
The victim described her grim living conditions to the police, noting that apart from a worn-out mattress, the only other item in the basement was a radio that played at maximum volume continuously.
Regarding her escape, Sgt. Doud explained, “She took advantage of a moment when she believed no one was home, managed to force a door open, and made her escape.”
“Usually, somebody was there” at the house, he explained.
The neighbor later told ABC 12 that he was stunned to find the victim suddenly in his living room with a metal pipe “almost as big as she is.”
“I don’t even know how she had the power to even break the window,” the man said, explaining that he initially believed the “skin and bones” woman to be in her late 70s.
The victim was taken to a local hospital, where staffers told cops she would likely die from severe malnutrition if she was released, MLive reported.
Meanwhile, police went to Beamon’s house – which she reportedly purchased months after the victim’s brother died in January 2021 – and found its doors open.
There, they witnessed a lock on the basement door, a mattress on the ground and a radio playing loudly, according to the outlet.
They also found a five-gallon bucket of urine in the sick cellar.
Over the next several days, Beamon allegedly called the hospital about her relative over 40 times – and admitted to cops that she kept her in the house without letting her leave.
Investigators believe she held the older woman captive in order to cash in her disability checks, according to Doud, who didn’t identify the woman’s condition.
Beamon was arrested on April 2 and ordered held in Saginaw County Jail on $100,000 bond, after prosecutors reportedly described her as a danger to the public. She will appear for a preliminary examination on April 20.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Beamon had retained an attorney.
