HOUSTON – A senior citizen who was found living in deplorable conditions at an unpermitted boarding home in southwest Houston is now safe at a new nursing home in Dallas, but her experience in Houston has left a mark that hasn’t gone away.
“It put me through the ringer, I’ll tell you ... what I thought was a good guy turned out to be a complete skunk,” 67-year-old Archannette Riley told only KPRC 2 by phone Tuesday evening.
She has been living with Parkinson’s for 25 years and moved into the home at Wanda Lane and Cadawac Drive, in a family-friendly neighborhood, in February.
“Did you get any care while you were there?” KPRC 2′s Bryce Newberry asked her.
“Not one bit,” she said. “Not even a cup of coffee was made for me.”
No one answered the door when KPRC 2 knocked on Tuesday evening. It appeared no one was living there anymore and neighbors told us they hadn’t seen much activity.
Less than three weeks ago, acting on a tip from Adult Protective Services, Houston Police found Riley with her body contorted, according to court records.
The room smelled of urine and feces, she had a severe infection on her backside, she hadn’t been attended to in at least three days, and she needed medical attention, records show.
Two men are wanted for felony injury to an elderly person. Shaun Stubblefield, 42, is who investigators say ran the operation. The property owner, 55-year-old Jianlin Zhou, is also charged.
“We trusted people that we thought had her best interests at heart,” Riley’s family member, who asked to not be identified, told KPRC 2.
She doesn’t understand how it got so bad. In February, they were referred to the boarding home by a social worker at Riley’s old nursing home.
The family member said the goal was to get Riley into housing where she could be more independent.
“It was being all funneled through what we felt was a legitimate process,” the family member said. “What’s scary about it is that it happened through the help of a nursing home facility and a social worker that worked there. I think that’s the biggest thing. It didn’t cause us to think twice about it.”
According to court records, Stubblefield directed Riley’s family to make payments to someone using Zelle. At first, it was discounted to $750 a month, then he asked for it to be increased to $1,000, and then asked for an additional $600 for other services that Riley may have needed.
“They need to go to jail for a long time because they bamboozled a lot of people,” Riley said.
She is relieved to be out of there and back in her hometown of Dallas, but her family is warning others to not put all their trust in people when it comes to their loved ones, to always be skeptical, and double-check everything.
“The fact that any human, let alone someone that I’m related to, is going through this level of neglect is kind of earth shattering,” Riley’s family member said. “The fact that we were taken advantage of as a family really makes us feel more vulnerable, but also a little bit more empowered now that we know that there are people, I mean, we can’t trust anybody.”
According to court records, Harris County shut down Stubblefield’s unpermitted boarding home in the Katy area in 2021, where residents were living without air conditioning and investigators saw feces overflowing from the toilet.
Harris County has a list of approved, permitted boarding homes here.
If you’re concerned about an unpermitted boarding home operating in your neighborhood, check out this list of what you should pay attention to and how to report it.
Anyone with information about Stubblefield or Zhou should call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
There are ways you can check the environment both before and after your loved one is placed in a nursing home.
They include talking to the staff, looking at how the other residents are groomed and if they look cared for, and check out the menu. That includes both asking about the environment and sitting in the dining room to try a meal yourself.
When you visit, watch how long it takes for a response when residents need care. You should also try to stay close to home.