SOUTH ROXANA, Ill. — Two young men were charged with endangering their grandmother's life by not giving her enough to eat and leaving the house in filth.
That woman and her husband, Kenneth and Deborah Beasley, were well-known in the small town of South Roxana, Illinois. The name might sound familiar. Kenneth served four terms as Mayor of South Roxana.
“Everybody loved them,” said the couple’s neighbor, Pam Krontz. “When her husband, Kenny, the Mayor, passed, she’s been keeping to herself a lot at her house, see her outside with coffee in the morning every now and then," said Krontz.
Deborah’s neighbors said that ever since her husband died in 2016, life has been hard on her.
"She looked frail, you know, but her spirit about her was so kind,” said Krontz’s cousin, Deborah Cortez. “She looked lost and she looked like she needed people to care for her and love her.”
On Monday, Deborah’s two grandsons, Brenden and Bryce Reader, were arrested. They were charged with neglect of an elderly person and possession of a controlled substance, namely heroin.
“I think the boys were trying to run her house,” Krontz told 5 On Your Side. Krontz went on to say that she doesn’t think the boys were even supposed to be inside the house.
“Quite a while back, the cops told them, ‘Don't come back,’ because they were trying to tell her what to do. That was right after Kenny died probably," said Krontz.
A criminal complaint stated that the boys failed to give their grandmother food on several occasions and let her home become unhealthy and unsanitary.
But, these details came as a surprise to her neighbors, that is until police showed up at the family’s house Monday night.
“I was like, 'Oh my goodness,'” said Krontz. “I knew something was happening because cops were outside in front of my house. They had spotlights, so I knew something had happened."
