Victim of alleged abuse or neglect dies

An elderly Walhalla man reported by the police as the victim of a case of abuse or neglect died today in the hospital. Coroner Karl Addis says Curtis Howard Orr died at 3 this morning at the Oconee Medical Center. Orr had been hospitalized since June 18 when the city police conducted a welfare check at the 72-year old man’s home on West South Broad Street. A few days later the police arrested Orr’s son, Mitchell David Orr, and the son’s wife, Kristin Sarah Orr, on charges of abuse or neglect with great bodily injury of a vulnerable adult. The coroner said an autopsy revealed the elder Orr died of a coronary event, but there were also signs of malnutrition, pneumonia, COPD, and cerebral atrophy observed in people diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer’s. The home at 608 W.S. Broad has since been condemned by an inspector.