MI Woman Starved Sister-In-Law In Basement For 2 Years: Reports

SAGINAW, MI — A 48-year-old woman is facing charges after locking her vulnerable sister-in-law in the basement of a Saginaw home for two years, according to multiple news reports.

Tasha Beamon was charged with unlawful imprisonment and first-degree vulnerable adult abuse. She was placed in jail with a $100,000 bond. Her next court date is scheduled for April 13.

Officers were called to a home in the 1600 block of Gilbert Street after a woman broke a window on March 15, reports said.

Officers arrived and found a 58-year-old malnourished woman who told them she had just escaped a home where she was held against her will for nearly two years, ABC 12 News reported.

She told officers that she broke the window of a nearby home so someone would call police.

The woman was taken to a nearby hospital where she was treated for severe malnourishment.

Investigators learned she was a vulnerable adult living in a nearby home. They verified the woman's claims, saying Beamon locked her in a basement and gave her minimal food and water, with little to no access to a bathroom or shower.

Beamon told investigators she kept the woman inside the home without letting her leave, but she claimed the victim slept in an upstairs bedroom, MLive reported.

However, investigators found a lock on the basement door, a mattress on the floor, a radio playing loudly, and a 5-gallon bucket of urine, according to the report.

Prosecutors believe Beamon was keeping the other woman captive to collect her disability payments.