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Caregivers get prison for starving man to death By Chris Bristol Two borderline-retarded men were sent to prison Monday for starving to death a 68-year-old man they were paid to care for. The judge, meanwhile, blamed the scandal on Oregon�s adult foster care system. "This case is an indictment of our whole system for taking care of the ill and elderly," Jackson County Judge Patricia Crain said. "These people are so vulner- able ..." The defendants � Jack Cockrell Jr., 34, and his 32-year-old brother, Johnnie � worked for William John Laybourne, who owned and operated an adult foster home off Gold Ray Road outside Central Point. In a plea bargain, the Cockrell brothers pleaded guilty to reduced charges of criminally negligent homicide for starving Edward Hayes, a client who weighed only 110 pounds when he was finally taken to the emergency room at Rogue Valley Medical Center in December 1998. Hayes died three days later. In addition to being severely malnourished, authorities said, he also suffered from hypothermia and was covered in bed sores. The state shut down the foster home in February 1999. The case exposed flaws in the state�s system of adult foster care, which officials defend as a progressive and cost-efficient alternative to nursing homes. Many homes are inspected only once a year because the state has only one inspector for every 120 homes. As part of the plea bargain, prosecutors dropped mistreatment charges involving an 84-year-old man who lost 45 pounds in less than two months at the Laybourne home. In court Monday, defense attorneys urged Crain not to send the Cockrell brothers to prison. Defense testimony indicated the brothers have IQs in the low 70s. An IQ of 100 is considered average. But prosecutor Sheen Wu, an assistant Oregon attorney general, argued the Cockrells were experienced caregivers who should have known better. To bolster her argument, she submitted graphic photographs of the malnourished victim. "Even an 8-year-old could see something was wrong here," Wu told the judge. "This man looked like a victim of the Holocaust. It is just simply horrible." Despite misgivings, Crain sentenced Jack Cockrell to 19 months in prison. Johnnie Cockrell was given 16 months. With credit for time served and good behavior, they could be out in less than a year. William Laybourne, 62, also was convicted of criminally negligent homicide for his role in the case. A chain smoker, he died of lung cancer two months ago. A fourth defendant, Troy Lee O�Brien, refused to take a plea and is scheduled for trial in November. He claims he has not worked for Laybourne since 1995. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA