CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. (TCD) — A 36-year-old man is in custody after deputies discovered he was reportedly living with his mother’s decomposing body for days.
On Friday, May 5, shortly before 5 p.m., the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office responded to a home on the 29000 block of Turbak Drive to perform a welfare check. Deputies knocked multiple times with no response before searching the property and noticing a “foul odor emitting from the residence.”
Justin Carver reportedly exited the home and locked the door. The Sheriff’s Office said deputies noticed his “evasive behavior and began to question him about the well-being of the victim.”
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by WINK-TV, Carver told deputies he “had spoken to the person at the home earlier in the week,” and he had not seen her since they last spoke.
Inside the home, the Sheriff’s Office discovered the victim, Layni Carver, 55, in a state of decomposition on a bedroom floor. Her cause of death has not yet been determined, and her toxicology results will be released sometime in the coming weeks.
When deputies confronted Justin Carver about her death, he reportedly admitted that “upon finding her he noticed that she was deceased.” Deputies asked him when she died, and he reportedly replied, “Approximately two days ago,” on Wednesday, May 3.
Justin Carver was subsequently arrested and charged with failing to report a death to medical examiner and resisting officer without violence. He was booked into the Charlotte County Jail.
According to arrest records, he was previously booked into the Charlotte County Jail on multiple drug possession charges in 2014 and on a charge of battery in 2021.
MORE:
TRUE CRIME DAILY: THE PODCAST covers high-profile and under-the-radar cases every week. Subscribe to our YouTube page for podcasts, exclusive videos, and more, and don’t forget to follow us on TikTok.