Mother-of-two who let her paralyzed husband get eaten alive by maggots and rot to death in their cockroach-infested hovel to serve just four years in prison

  • Mark Fulgham, 36, was found covered in bed sores and riddled with maggots
  • His wife of 12 years, Dormanicia Lawson, called 911 when he was struggling to breathe on December 30 last year
  • He died the next day in hospital of infection, dehydration and malnutrition
  • Police searched the couple's apartment which was filthy and infested with cockroaches, flies and maggots
  • Officers described an 'awful odor' and saw bags of rotting trash and human feces
  • Lawson's two children, also living at the apartment, were 'dirty' with a 'foul odor'
  • She was arrested and initially charged with murder for the death of her husband
  • But a jury last month failed to reach a verdict so Lawson pleaded guilty to abuse
  • She has been jailed for four years - and could be out after serving just two 

By Hannah Parry For Dailymail.com

Published: 10:50 EST, 13 December 2016 | Updated: 15:30 EST, 13 December 2016

A mother-of-two who let her husband rot to death in their filthy, cockroach-infested home is to get just four years in jail.

Paramedics found Mark Fulgham, 36, covered in bed sores and riddled with maggots, after his wife of 12 years Dormanicia called 911 when he began struggling to breathe on December 30, 2015. 

He died in hospital just one day later of severe dehydration, malnutrition and infection. Police said he had suffered such severe starvation that his bones were severely pronounced.

Dormanicia Lawson (left, in her mugshot), who let her husband Mark Fulgham (right) rot to death in their filthy, cockroach-infested home is to get just four years in jail

Dormanicia Lawson, 37, was arrested and initially charged with homicide over what California officials deemed 'one of the worst neglect cases' they'd ever seen, NBC News reported.

But jurors were unable to agree on the murder charge last month which has since been dropped by prosecutors.

She is now facing just four years in jail after she agreed to plead guilty to abusing her husband. Lawson was also convicted of two abuse counts related to her children last month.

As the abuse charges are not classed as violent offenses, she could be eligible for release in just two years.

Lawson was arrested after doctors and nurses treating her husband discovered maggots eating his body and infected bed sores.

Paramedics found Mark Fulgham, 36, covered in bed sores and riddled with maggots lying on a filthy stained mattress 

Officers entering the building, found a filthy home, infested with cockroaches, flies and maggots  

Authorities found rotting garbage, human feces and a ceiling covered in flies

'You would think he was a corpse just by the way he looked,' Corporal Christopher Blakely, Concord police spokesperson, told PEOPLE at the time.

'It was horrific. … (It was) the most severe case of neglect that I've ever seen, and I've been an officer here for 10 years.

'He could not talk. He had shortness of breath. He had maggots that were eating his body.' 

The couple were married for 12 years but Fulgham only appeared to have been paralyzed in the past couple of years, according to his Facebook page.

When police arrived at the couple's apartment in Concord, California, they were struck by an 'awful odor.'

Officers entering the building, found a filthy home, infested with cockroaches, flies and maggots. 

Authorities found rotting garbage, human feces and a dirty, heavily stained mattress was lying on the floor - on which Mark Fulgham had been left to fester. 

Dormanicia Lawson, 37, was arrested and initially charged with homicide over what California officials deemed 'one of the worst neglect cases' they'd ever seen

Lawson was initially facing murder charges over her husband's death but these have been downgraded to abuse after a jury could not reach a verdict

Blakely said that both of Lawson's children were found with a 'foul odor and were dirty.' 

He added that when Lawson was asked why she had neglected her husband, she had no answer. 

'She had no explanation for it, other than she was tired and stressed,' Blakely said. 

The apartment was so unsanitary it had to be sealed off after the discovery.

He added that Lawson's main role had been taking care of her husbands and her two sons, a teenager with severe autism and an 11-year-old. The youngest child was taken in to care.

Lawson was charged with murdering Fulgham through extreme neglect.

During her trial, she testified that Fulgham had been abusive toward her and actively resisted treatment.  She claimed that her husband had hit her and cursed at her when she told him to seek help and even when she tried to call 911.

Jurors were split 8-4 on the murder charge.

When police arrived at the couple's apartment in Concord, California, they were struck by an 'awful odor'

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