Staff report
A Salisbury woman who lived with an older couple for years has been charged with exploitation.
On Monday, Salisbury Police charged Mary Meismer Byrd, 73, of 1123 Arden Drive, with one felony count of exploitation.
Police Chief Mark Wilhelm said Byrd wrote and signed 19 checks on the account of Horace Billings, who is in a nursing facility in Charlotte.
The checks were written in July and August, in a period after Billings had suffered a stroke and was hospitalized and then briefly returned to his home at 1123 Arden Drive.
The 80-year-old Billings is a former sports editor at the Salisbury Post who covered sports for 60 years on a full-time and part-time basis.
Byrd initially moved in with Billings and his wife, Joyce, to help care for her. Joyce Billings died in 2002.
According to police, Billings’ son, William Billings, discovered the checks, which were written to Byrd and bore his father’s signature.
William Billings told police his father had been unable to sign his name since he suffered the first stroke in June.
The checks were all written for either $500 or $600, with several written two days apart. The specific charge against Byrd is exploitation of an elder or disabled adult, a felony. While that is a relatively rare charge, Wilhelm said he’s sure a lot of it goes on.