The purple house in Houston Texas was once a nonprofit feeding and sheltering the homeless. The building is owned by 81-year-oled Essie May Scranton, and the nonprofit, Regina’s Faith Ministries, apparently run by her daughter, Regina Jones, and her son, Walter Renard Jones. How Regina’s Faith lost its nonprofit status and fell to abuse is unclear, but the captivity of three elderly men led to the death of William Merle Greenawalt, 79, 6 days after he was freed.
In the initial report published at TheCelebrityCafe, it appeared that there were 4 men being held at the house unwillingly; police later revised the reports to 3. Those men were hospitalized for malnutrition before being released to an assisted living facility, the AP reports. Since then, one of the men has died of undisclosed causes, writes CNN.
Walter Renard Jones remains the only person in prison at this time, but the investigation is still ongoing. In addition to the three elderly men, police are looking into the other residents of the house. These include the fourth elderly man and four women, three of whom had mental disabilities. Initial reports, also from the AP, indicate that the nonprofit was inspected, and 4 residents were pleased with their treatment in November 2011.