Sepsis leads to criminally negligent homicide charges

HAMILTON — Vickie L. Mills, 63, of Hamilton, was arrested on Tuesday morning, Aug. 13, on charges of criminally negligent homicide.
Marion County Sheriff Kevin Williams said her charges stemmed from the death of William Kenny Galbreath, 56, Hamilton, on Aug. 2.
“Basically, what happened is they’ve been acquaintances for 20 years or longer and were cohabitating for a long time,” he said.
“He was sick and bedridden for awhile, and he had bedsores where he hadn’t been out of bed for so long. They finally called for an ambulance, and he went to the hospital in Tupelo on July 10.”
The sheriff said Galbreath was admitted to the in-patient hospice department at the North Mississippi Medical Center on July 31.
“The hospital was obligated to call the Marion County Department of Human Resources to make a report because he had so many bedsores. They were really bad,” Williams said.
“DHR then connected with the sheriff’s department and an investigator went with them to investigate what had happened.
“We felt like she neglected him, so we charged her. While he was in hospice, he passed away from sepsis from the bedsores. We’ve sent the body away for autopsy, and we’re awaiting results, so some of this is still under investigation.
“But we felt like she didn’t take care of him, and that’s the charge we came up with…