Three Humble residents were arrested Thursday, Oct. 8, in connection with an alleged illegal boarding care home operation in Liberty County, where authorities say vulnerable residents were living in unsanitary conditions, receiving inadequate meals and, in some cases, being left unattended overnight.
The three arrested are Jona Antoinette Ellis, 40, Jaria Angelique Ilean Ellis, 22, and Jonathan Anthony Ellis, 40, all of Humble.
All three are charged with Operating a Boarding House Without County/Municipal Permit. Jona Ellis faces two additional charges of Unlawful Restraint and Interfering With Public Duties.
Liberty County Fire Marshal Nathan Green said the arrests followed an investigation into a home operating under the names Ellis Heart Haven and Ellis Haven Heart in the Colony Ridge area. His office shut down the facility, located on County Road 3404, after discovering numerous health and safety violations.
The three suspects were taken into custody in Harris County on the warrants issued in Liberty County. Green said the arrests also affected the operators’ permits for facilities in Harris County, preventing them from continuing operations there until the legal issues are resolved.
The investigation has involved Adult Protective Services, which is working to relocate five people from the Liberty County facility and 19 others from other homes in Harris County.
Green said the conditions discovered at the Liberty County home were particularly disturbing because many of the residents were physically or mentally unable to care for themselves.
“Folks living there were physically and mentally unable to care for themselves. They were not being treated with the decency of nutritious meals and good hygiene. Lying in feces and urine. It’s very upsetting,” Green said.
According to Green, some residents at times were receiving little more than a packet of dry ramen noodles or a piece of bacon for meals. He added that reports from previous Adult Protective Services visits described residents lying in beds containing food crumbs, roaches and ants.
Investigators also found feces on the floor, a lawn mower and gasoline can stored inside the living room, and other conditions that raised serious fire and life safety concerns.
Green said the home did not meet minimum fire safety requirements, and investigators found no evidence that the operators had medical training. Although the operators had obtained permits for their Harris County locations, they had no authorization to operate a boarding care home in Liberty County.
The Liberty County location had seven occupants when authorities investigated. Two were in their 30s and were renting a converted garage.
Green said emergency medical personnel had responded to 14 calls at the property over the previous six months. Those repeated calls helped bring the operation to the attention of his office.
According to Green, another troubling discovery was that residents were sometimes left alone overnight, despite their need for assistance.
The additional charges against Jona Ellis stem from an incident in which she allegedly refused to allow authorities inside the home and prevented residents who wanted to leave from doing so.
“She was blocking the door, kept it locked and wouldn’t let them leave. It was as much to keep them in as it was to keep me out,” Green said.
He explained that Chapter 352 of the Texas Local Government Code gives his office authority to enter a property when a life safety hazard exists.
The house itself was relatively new, having been built two years ago. Green said the operators had been the property’s only tenants, and the landlord was upset upon learning how the home had been used.
According to Green, the landlord had not understood that such an operation would be taking place at the property.
The arrests come as Liberty County officials step up enforcement of new regulations governing boarding care homes that took effect in June. Green said his office had previously taken action to shut down the operation, but the operators continued to be a concern.
While the arrests have brought an end to these particular operations for now, Green worries that other unregulated care homes could continue operating without authorities knowing about them.
He said the greatest concern is for elderly and disabled residents whose families may believe they are receiving proper care when, in reality, they are living in dangerous or neglectful conditions.
“I would hate to think that some of our folks in Liberty County would end up in such a care home where things are not regulated and kept up to par,” Green said.
As of Friday, Oct. 9, Green said there are no permitted boarding care homes operating in unincorporated Liberty County under the county’s new regulations.
He is asking residents to help identify potential illegal operations, particularly homes where more than three unrelated elderly or disabled individuals are living and receiving care.
“We are willing to deal with them but we have to find them,” Green said.
Anyone who suspects an unpermitted boarding care home is operating in Liberty County, or who has a loved one living in such a facility, is encouraged to contact the Liberty County Fire Marshal’s Office at 936-253-8200.
Callers can leave a message in the general voicemail box, which automatically sends an alert to the fire marshal. Green said residents only need to provide an address, and his office will investigate.
Bond information is not available at this time. A mugshot of Jonathan Ellis also is not available.