The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office released a statement saying a criminal grand jury recently returned a 14-count indictment against Michelle Morris Kerin, 80, and her husband Edward Lawrence “Larry” Kerin, 79. The married couple ran the since-closed Morris Small Family Home.
The charges involve several victims and include murder; child endangerment likely to cause great bodily injury or death; dependent adult endangerment likely to cause great bodily injury or death; and lewd acts on a dependent adult.
Only Michelle Kerin was charged with murder. She was arraigned on Monday at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta—a city near the location of the foster home, in the unincorporated community of La Cresta—and that arraignment was continued to August 12. She remains in custody after not posting a bail set at $1 million.
Her husband posted bail on August 8 and is scheduled to be arraigned on December 17.
The second-degree murder charge against Michelle Kerin stems from the 2019 death of foster child Diane “Princess” Ramirez. The district attorney’s report says the 17-year-old girl spent a night vomiting blood with inconsistent vital signs and had been in pain for an estimated eight or nine hours. Kerin allegedly neglected to transport the girl to an emergency room despite instructions to do so.
The investigation was launched after Ramirez’s death involved several agencies, such as Community Care Licensing, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department and the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.
The district attorney’s media release said the “investigation uncovered what is alleged to be several years of physical abuse and neglect of dependent children and adults, along with sexual abuse against three dependent adults who had been placed in the home. Many of the victims were non-ambulatory and unable to speak, requiring 24-hour care.”
The Twitter account for the district attorney’s office shared news of the couple’s indictment on Monday and included photographs of the two being led away in handcuffs.
Along with charges of abuse and neglect, the couple are also accused of not keeping the foster home facility properly staffed for 24-hour care and not maintaining adequate medical records.
The district attorney’s statement added, “Some of the adult dependent residents were found to lack the mental capacity to give consent but engaged in sexual activities facilitated and encouraged by both defendants.”
Newsweek contacted the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.
