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Inset: John Earl Black (Lee County Sheriff”s Office). Background: The 9000 block of Lee Road 240 in the Phenix City area of Alabama (Google Maps).
A disturbing incident unfolded in Alabama, where a 70-year-old man is accused of violently assaulting his 95-year-old mother. Authorities report that the elderly woman suffered two black eyes and visible bruises on her arms and legs due to the attack.
The suspect, identified as John Earl Black, faces charges of second-degree elder abuse, as announced by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. According to an official press release, Black was taken into custody and booked into the Lee County Detention Center on Tuesday, with his bond set at $30,000.
The case came to light two days prior when, at approximately 8 a.m., a concerned individual approached sheriff’s deputies who were on patrol in the 9000 block of Lee Road 240, near Phenix City. This encounter set the investigation into motion, leading to Black’s arrest.
Two days before, at about 8 a.m., a man approached sheriff’s deputies on patrol in the 9000 block of Lee Road 240 in the area of Phenix City, authorities say.
The reason for his contact?
“His brother assault[ed] his mother,” the police department alleges.
The law enforcement officers saw that inside of the man’s vehicle was “his 95-year-old mother, who had two black eyes and Band-Aids on her arms and legs,” according to the press release.
When deputies asked the nonagenarian what happened, “she stated that her other son struck her and that this was not the first time,” according to police.
That man was identified as Black.
The woman said the crime occurred at her home on the 100 block of Lee Road 498 in Phenix City.
In the process of arresting Black, deputies learned a similar crime had occurred before.
The defendant had been arrested “for the same charge where his mother was the victim in April of 2022,” according to the sheriff’s office.
He pleaded guilty to the charge this past January and was placed on probation for two years.
Phenix City is located in eastern Alabama, less than a mile away from Columbus, Georgia.