Daughter charged after Hickman County senior allegedly starved to death
*Editor’s note: Hickman County investigators initially identified the victim as Victoria Totty, but have since corrected themselves and said the victim’s real name is Virginia Totty. This story has been updated to reflect this claim.*
HICKMAN COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) – It’s a case so heinous that even grizzled law officers found the facts extremely unsettling.
A Hickman County senior citizen was allegedly starved to death at the hands of her own child.
According to Hickman County investigators, it all began in the winter of 2023. That’s when Hickman County EMS responded to the home of 79-year-old Virginia Totty.
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Totty was rushed to the hospital and pronounced dead.
According to Lt. Mike Doddo, Virginia – who ate through a feeding tube – was very malnourished. An autopsy later revealed she died as a result of a homicide due to malnourishment and other medical issues.
According to Doddo, Hickman County investigators working with Adult Protective Services and the district attorney’s office pieced together a complete timeline of medical and financial records.
Doddo said the autopsy reveals that Virginia’s daughter, her only caregiver, starved her own mother to death.
This week, a Hickman County grand jury indicted Virginia’s daughter, 44-year-old Lorrie Totty, who lived with her mother and served as her mother’s caregiver, according to investigators.
“She was 100% dependent upon her daughter to help her and her daughter failed her,” Doddo said.
In addition to first-degree murder, Lorrie is also charged with aggravated neglect of an elderly or vulnerable adult, theft of property, and financial exploitation of an elderly or vulnerable adult.
According to Doddo, Lorrie allegedly stole $47,000 dollars from her mother, money that was designated for Virginia’s health care.
Lorrie is jailed without bond. She refused an interview with News 2 about this arrest.
“It’s very sad, very disturbing, very upsetting that an elderly person in our community would be treated like that, no less her own family member, her own blood, very hard to stomach,” Doddo said.
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Another person living at the Totty residence was also indicted and arrested.
Randy Rochelle, 56, is charged with financial exploitation of an elderly or vulnerable adult. He was implicated in the theft of Virginia’s missing $47,000.
His bond was set at $75,000.
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