SPARTANBURG MAN RECEIVES 25-YEAR PRISON SENTENCE FOR FATAL NEGLECT

A Spartanburg man received a 25-year prison sentence today after he admitted to letting his father die without caring for him.

Phillip Mitchell, 28, pleaded guilty to neglect resulting in death of Phillip Sullivan, 54, moments after opening statements were heard in his trial. He will serve 85 percent of Circuit Judge Roger Couch’s prison sentence before he is eligible for release.

Spartanburg Public Safety investigators found Sullivan’s body on July 12, 2007 inside the Collins Avenue home he shared with his son. He was lying naked on a couch with visible bed sores and other wounds.

The ensuing investigation revealed the Sullivan lived with his son for three months prior to his death. Mitchell moved his father out of a nursing home. Sullivan was crippled after a series of strokes. The investigation revealed that Mitchell deprived his father of food, water and other basic care. Sullivan’s weight dropped from approximately 148 pounds to 106 pounds in the four months prior to his death.

After the death, witnesses told police they saw Mitchell hide his father’s food and make him search for it. Mitchell locked his father in his bedroom and he went weeks without giving him a bath.

Witnesses also reported seeing Mitchell curse and scream at his father when the elderly man urinated on himself. Mitchell also cashed his father’s Social Security checks and used the money for cigarettes and other personal expenses.

“The defendant’s actions were horrible,” Principal Deputy Solicitor Barry Barnette said. “No human being deserves to die the way that Mr. Sullivan did, especially at the hands of his own son.”

Investigators arrested Mitchell in October after an autopsy revealed that the neglect was a contributing factor. The autopsy report cited evidence of emaciation of the body and evidence of gross dehydration.

Mitchell’s case is believed to be the first of its kind prosecuted in Spartanburg or Cherokee counties.