A married couple from Collin County is facing several charges after being accused of forcing one woman into a dog kennel and burning her with boiling water while living off the inheritance of a different woman needing constant care.
According to a number of arrest warrant affidavits obtained by NBC 5, on Feb. 1 deputies with the Collin County Sheriff's Office went to a home near Wylie on the 100 block of Park Drive on a report that a woman was being held against her will for several months.
Deputies found the woman in a room of the home and said she had fresh cuts on her face and severe burns on both of her arms. She also had scabs and burns on her legs, back, chest and sides.
The woman told officials she'd been kept in the small room and placed in a dog kennel, beaten with metal kitchen utensils and burned with boiling water for eating food. She said the abuse had happened in the home and that the owners, 36-year-old Alicia Calderon and her husband, 38-year-old Joseph Calderon, "were the ones who had done this to her."
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In addition to pouring boiling water on her, the woman alleged Alicia had knocked her unconscious and directed her children to put on boxing gloves and punch her in the face.
Alicia Calderon told authorities she lived at the same home with her husband and their four children. She said the woman who said she was burned was a friend who lived with them and that she was free to come and go as she pleased. She said the burns came after the woman spilled hot water on herself.
The room occupied by the injured woman was also occupied by two pit bulls and 75-year-old Marian Elaine Morris, who was found by deputies on a twin bed lying in her own urine and fecal matter. Noticing she wasn't being cared for, deputies said they requested Morris be transported to a hospital where it was discovered she had bedsores and was nonverbal.
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Calderon told investigators she had been Morris' caregiver since 2018 after meeting her while living at Southfork Mobile Home Park in Wylie.
Deputies said neither Joseph nor Alicia were working and when asked about the financial burden of caring for Morris they said Alicia had been placed on Morris' bank account to use her finances for her care. Alicia said she was not compensated for her effort and took care of the woman "out of the goodness of her heart."
Investigators said Morris' estranged daughter told them she and her mother had both been given inheritances of about $78,000 in 2019 and that her mother received about $800 per month in Social Security benefits.
The affidavit said investigators obtained copies of Morris' bank accounts which showed the inheritance check being deposited in February 2019 and that within three months the account had been drawn negative with purchases for insurance, utilities, rental cars, retail shops, tattoos and a child bouncy house rental. Numerous cash withdrawals totaling tens of thousands of dollars were also made, according to deputies.
The only regular deposits made to Morris' account, deputies said, were from her Social Security payments.
Deputies allege the couple drained Morris' bank account and spent the money on items not related to her care and that Alicia also assaulted the other woman who was staying in the home when she twice allegedly poured boiling water on her.
According to the arresting documents, Joseph is facing two charges of exploitation of the elderly and injury to an elderly person while Alicia is facing two charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, injury to an elderly person and exploitation of the elderly.
It's not clear if either Alicia or Joseph have obtained attorneys.
