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Three guilty in death at foster home By Chris Bristol The owner and two employees of an adult foster home have been convicted in the 1998 death of a 68-year-old man who became severely malnourished in their care. The defendants were accused of starving Edward Hayes, who died three days after he was taken to the emergency room at Rogue Valley Medical Center. Authorities said the 6-foot-1 Hayes weighed only 110 pounds, suffered from hypothermia and was covered in bed sores when he died. Hayes had been in the care of William John Laybourne, who owned and operated an adult foster home off Gold Ray Road near Central Point. The state closed the foster home in February 1999. A Jackson County grand jury indicted Laybourne and two caregivers in January, accusing them of causing Hayes� death by failing to provide, or even withholding, food and medical care. Laybourne, 62, pleaded no contest Wednesday to a charge of criminally negligent homicide. In exchange, prosecutors dropped charges of second-degree manslaughter (which carries a mandatory sentence of more than six years in prison) and criminal mistreatment. Two of Laybourne�s employees � Jack Cockrell Jr., 33, and his brother, Johnnie Cockrell, 31 � also were convicted, pleading guilty to the same charge of criminal negligence. Under state sentencing guidelines, the Cockrell brothers face sentences ranging anywhere from probation to 18 months in prison. A sentencing date has not been set, pending a pre-sentence investigation. But Laybourne won�t do any time. He has lung cancer, and his doctors have told authorities he has only a few months to live. Too weak to walk, he complained to his attorney in court Wednesday that his weight is down to 125 pounds. All three men remain free on their own recognizance. Laybourne won�t even have to attend the sentencing, receiving permission from the judge to travel to California for medical treatment. He continues to smoke cigarettes. The defendants also were accused of mistreatment involving an 84-year-old man who lost 45 pounds in less than two months at the Laybourne home. That charge also was dropped as part of the plea bargain. The case was handled by the state Medicaid fraud unit in Portland. Prosecutor Sheen Wu, an assistant Oregon attorney general, said it�s unlikely the defendants intentionally starved the victims. Rather, she said. they probably failed to make sure they ate. A fourth defendant in the case � 33-year-old Troy Lee O�Brien � refused the deal, Wu said. A trial date is pending. State officials have defended Oregon�s adult foster care system as a progressive alternative to nursing homes. The state, however, allocates only one licensing worker for every 120 homes and many homes are officially inspected only once a year. 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