Dakota Valkyrie
August 28th, 2009, 08:57 AM
http://i25.tinypic.com/b4byax.jpg http://i25.tinypic.com/6ruhja.jpg
Neither mom or dad looks like they lacked nutrition...Emily Errico was wearing a plastic bag for a halter-top and sweatpants when police found her lifeless body in her parents' Garwood home two years ago.
The 25-year-old woman, who stood five-feet seven-inches tall, weighed only 97 pounds.
"You would not believe the condition of that apartment," said Jackie Belford, who lived above the Erricos on Second Avenue for five years. "It was just cluttered. You couldn't see the floor from all the paper bags and towels. They had hung up plastic bags everywhere."
Memories of that day in 2007 resurfaced this week after a Union County grand jury indicted Errico's mother, Erminia Errico, on a charge of third-degree neglect.
Authorities allege Ermina Errico, 62, and her husband, Edward, contributed to their daughter's death by failing to provide basic care to her as she wasted away from anorexia in an increasingly bizarre setting at home.
"This is a situation of a young girl who couldn't even control her movements at the time of her death," Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow said. "There was tremendous pressure in that house."
Explaining the lag between Emily Errico's death on Jan. 29, 2007, and the charge against her mother, Romankow said investigators needed time to collect evidence, a process that quickened when Edward Errico began to cooperate.
He pleaded guilty to a third-degree neglect charge earlier this year, and was sentenced to probation and ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation.
[...]
Any interaction with other children was forbidden outside of school, and even as a young woman Emily often wore plastic bags for clothes when inside, the indictment said.
Emily never mentioned any problems at home when she ventured outside, authorities said.
Described as exceptionally bright, she graduated from Kean University in 2003 with a degree in computer science.
[...]
While she lived Kean's Union Township campus for some time, her father remained a constant presence, supplying meals daily and even accompanying her on the occasional date, Romankow said.
"It's perplexing she did not say anything," Romankow said. "I can't enter into her mind. I wish I knew her. But maybe she could not overcome the mental and emotional issues at her home."
Investigators say Emily's confinement grew worse after she graduated from college, when she moved into the Garwood home.
"She was not free to leave her room, let alone the house because her mother would sit like a guard outside her room on a constant basis," Romankow said.
In December 2004, Emily's father took her to a nutritionist, who diagnosed her as malnourished and recommended follow-up visits, according to the indictment.
It was the last time Emily ventured outside the house, the indictment said. Her father canceled all subsequent appointments.
Before Emily died, her father told investigators, he would often hear his daughter "falling like a bag of bones" on the floor, as if she had lost all muscle control, Romankow said.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/08/union_county_authorities_detai.html
Her mother called 911, but Romankow said, "the police had a difficult time entering the house because of garbage bags placed by the door."
He said there were black bags over the windows as well.
[...]
Emily was fed a diet of granola bars and seltzer, as she wasted away for nearly four years.
[...]
Some neighbors said they didn't even know the Errico's had a daughter, and others said they hadn't seen her outside of the house for two years before her death.http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local-beat/Adult-Daughters-Death-Anorexia-Death-Blamed-on-Mom-55400267.html
According to WABC (http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local&id=6986208), the mother was so afraid of germs, she made her husband and daughter defecate and wash up in a laundry room sink.
Emily Errico, from 8th Grade Yearbook
http://i32.tinypic.com/2v8mqyq.jpg
Neither mom or dad looks like they lacked nutrition...Emily Errico was wearing a plastic bag for a halter-top and sweatpants when police found her lifeless body in her parents' Garwood home two years ago.
The 25-year-old woman, who stood five-feet seven-inches tall, weighed only 97 pounds.
"You would not believe the condition of that apartment," said Jackie Belford, who lived above the Erricos on Second Avenue for five years. "It was just cluttered. You couldn't see the floor from all the paper bags and towels. They had hung up plastic bags everywhere."
Memories of that day in 2007 resurfaced this week after a Union County grand jury indicted Errico's mother, Erminia Errico, on a charge of third-degree neglect.
Authorities allege Ermina Errico, 62, and her husband, Edward, contributed to their daughter's death by failing to provide basic care to her as she wasted away from anorexia in an increasingly bizarre setting at home.
"This is a situation of a young girl who couldn't even control her movements at the time of her death," Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow said. "There was tremendous pressure in that house."
Explaining the lag between Emily Errico's death on Jan. 29, 2007, and the charge against her mother, Romankow said investigators needed time to collect evidence, a process that quickened when Edward Errico began to cooperate.
He pleaded guilty to a third-degree neglect charge earlier this year, and was sentenced to probation and ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation.
[...]
Any interaction with other children was forbidden outside of school, and even as a young woman Emily often wore plastic bags for clothes when inside, the indictment said.
Emily never mentioned any problems at home when she ventured outside, authorities said.
Described as exceptionally bright, she graduated from Kean University in 2003 with a degree in computer science.
[...]
While she lived Kean's Union Township campus for some time, her father remained a constant presence, supplying meals daily and even accompanying her on the occasional date, Romankow said.
"It's perplexing she did not say anything," Romankow said. "I can't enter into her mind. I wish I knew her. But maybe she could not overcome the mental and emotional issues at her home."
Investigators say Emily's confinement grew worse after she graduated from college, when she moved into the Garwood home.
"She was not free to leave her room, let alone the house because her mother would sit like a guard outside her room on a constant basis," Romankow said.
In December 2004, Emily's father took her to a nutritionist, who diagnosed her as malnourished and recommended follow-up visits, according to the indictment.
It was the last time Emily ventured outside the house, the indictment said. Her father canceled all subsequent appointments.
Before Emily died, her father told investigators, he would often hear his daughter "falling like a bag of bones" on the floor, as if she had lost all muscle control, Romankow said.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/08/union_county_authorities_detai.html
Her mother called 911, but Romankow said, "the police had a difficult time entering the house because of garbage bags placed by the door."
He said there were black bags over the windows as well.
[...]
Emily was fed a diet of granola bars and seltzer, as she wasted away for nearly four years.
[...]
Some neighbors said they didn't even know the Errico's had a daughter, and others said they hadn't seen her outside of the house for two years before her death.http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local-beat/Adult-Daughters-Death-Anorexia-Death-Blamed-on-Mom-55400267.html
According to WABC (http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local&id=6986208), the mother was so afraid of germs, she made her husband and daughter defecate and wash up in a laundry room sink.
Emily Errico, from 8th Grade Yearbook
http://i32.tinypic.com/2v8mqyq.jpg