Lithonia woman convicted of exploiting disabled adults in “deplorable,” unlicensed care home

DEKALB COUNTY, GA— Crystal Nasir, 43, of Lithonia, was convicted by jury trial of operating an unlicensed care home where disabled adults were living with dogs, rats, bedbugs, mold, the DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston’s Office said on Monday, Oct. 6.

A jury found Nasir guilty of Deprivation of Essential Services to Disabled Adults and Exploitation of a Disabled Adult in connection with the January 2022 discovery of the “horrific” state of the care home she owned and operated, the D.A.’s office stated. 

Immediately following the guilty verdicts on Oct. 3, DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Gregory A. Adams sentenced Nasir to 15 years to serve 10 in confinement with the balance on probation. 

According to the investigation, a severely disabled 38-year-old man’s outcry for help prompted the discovery. The man called police on Dec. 28, 2021 to report that he was living in a house with several other people in terrible conditions.  He said he was living in the basement of the home without heat or air conditioning. The basement was covered in sewage from a toilet that had overflowed with human waste and the man also said that he had not been given his prescription medication in quite some time.  

On Jan. 4, 2022, police executed a search warrant at the house on Castle Downs Trace in Lithonia, which belonged to Nasir.  Officers confirmed deplorable conditions throughout the home. Nasir was breeding dogs at the house, and there were dog feces and dirt caked on to the floors, the walls, and the stairs inside. Law enforcement noticed residents were walking around the home with feces caked to the bottoms of their shoes or their bare feet. 

Many of the disabled adults in the home were living in rooms with mattresses or soiled bedding. Feces covered the floors and mold was growing on the walls. A bedbug infestation also was found in one of their rooms, investigators stated.

In the basement, there was standing water on the floors, mold growing on walls, a rat infestation and no heating unit was present in the bedrooms. Investigators noted the temperature of the basement was as cold as it was outside. Residents in the basement also were sleeping on mattresses and with inadequate blankets. They also found the bathroom was out of order, covered in human waste, and the toilet had overflowed onto the floors and left raw sewage throughout the basement. Investigators also found that the residents were using a bucket as a toilet near the downstairs bathroom.  One of the residents told law enforcement that the basement had been in that condition for months, and he had photos of the bathroom in an even worse state taken seven days before officers investigated the home.

Nasir was living in the home, and her full-time job was to care for the home and its residents. Her room was the cleanest in the house, and her bathroom was well maintained, investigators said.  Law enforcement discovered Nasir had residents’ medications in her room, and that she was keeping the residents’ personal papers, mail, and financial records in her bedroom and home office.

Officers located five disabled adults who were paying to live in the house, including a 44-year-old woman who had been tasked with cleaning the house and cooking food for herself and the other residents every day.  Investigators determined the woman had severe mental health issues and was not paid for her years of work inside the house. 

The case, assigned to the Crimes Against Elder Persons and Adults with Disabilities Unit, was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Laura Alford with assistance from Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Franklin Engram, District Attorney Investigator Charles Maupin, and Victim Advocate Tina Williamson.  Former DeKalb County Police Department Detective Aria Lynch, who is now a DA’s Office Investigator, led the initial investigation.