Inset: John Earl Black (Lee County Sheriff”s Office). Background: The 9000 block of Lee Road 240 in the Phenix City area of Alabama (Google Maps).
In a disturbing case out of Alabama, a 70-year-old man has been accused of violently attacking his 95-year-old mother, leaving her with two black eyes and visible bruising on her arms and legs, according to local authorities.
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office has charged John Earl Black with second-degree elder abuse, as detailed in a recent press release. Black is currently in custody at the Lee County Detention Center, with bail set at $30,000.
The incident came to the attention of law enforcement when a concerned individual approached deputies on patrol last Sunday around 8 a.m. near the 9000 block of Lee Road 240, in the vicinity of Phenix City.
The man reported the assault, stating, “His brother assaulted his mother,” according to the police department’s account.
The reason for his contact?
“His brother assault[ed] his mother,” the police department alleges.
The law enforcement officers saw that inside of the man’s vehicle was “his 95-year-old mother, who had two black eyes and Band-Aids on her arms and legs,” according to the press release.
When deputies asked the nonagenarian what happened, “she stated that her other son struck her and that this was not the first time,” according to police.
That man was identified as Black.
The woman said the crime occurred at her home on the 100 block of Lee Road 498 in Phenix City.
In the process of arresting Black, deputies learned a similar crime had occurred before.
The defendant had been arrested “for the same charge where his mother was the victim in April of 2022,” according to the sheriff’s office.
He pleaded guilty to the charge this past January and was placed on probation for two years.
Phenix City is located in eastern Alabama, less than a mile away from Columbus, Georgia.
