Two brothers charged in connection with the death of a housemate who was found severely malnourished and underweight last year in the home have pleaded guilty to criminal charges.

Alexander Leonard, 50, and Lonnie Leonard, 56, pleaded guilty Thursday afternoon in Warren Circuit Court to charges of second-degree manslaughter and exploitation of an adult.

The men were charged in connection with the death of Jazzmyne Roze Fikes, 44, who lived with the men at a house on Gary Avenue.

Fikes was found dead by authorities on May 14, 2023.

While an autopsy identified sepsis as the most likely cause of Fikes’ death, city police said evidence showed that she was the victim of neglect by the Leonard brothers and a third person, Tiffany McCoy, who also faces criminal charges in the case.

An investigation led by the Bowling Green Police Department determined that Fikes had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and that Alexander Leonard, who had at one time been in a dating relationship with her, was listed on paperwork from home health agency Marion House as a husband and caregiver.

BGPD Detective Justin Cossel testified in a 2023 preliminary hearing in Warren District Court that Lonnie Leonard was also paid $18 an hour for 40 hours a week through Marion House to act as Fikes’ caregiver, splitting the money with his brother, an arrangement that Alexander Leonard denied.

Instead of providing care for Fikes, the Leonards and McCoy were accused of neglecting her to the point of death.

Attorney Jason Pfeil of the Department of Public Advocacy, representing Alexander Leonard, said in court Thursday that prosecutors were prepared to prove at trial that Leonard’s actions met the legal standard of wanton conduct leading to Fikes’ death.

Cossel testified last year that Fikes’ body weighed 52 pounds by the time police found her, and that she had an exposed spine and bedsores on her back with maggots in them.

“Officers observed that Fikes was extremely malnourished and extremely underweight, to the point you could see her ribs and hip bones,” Cossel said while testifying last year in court.

The detective went on to describe that Fikes was wearing an adult diaper that was full, her hair was matted and she had severe bedsores on her back.

When authorities attempted to move Fikes’ body, they initially found that it was stuck to the mattress, and upon moving the body from the bed, they found a cigarette butt stuck to her back in addition to the bedsores, Cossel testified last year.

The Kentucky Office of the Medical Examiner conducted the autopsy.

“(The medical examiner) said that Fikes had eroded bone on her tailbone and some lower extremities. She said that (Fikes’) spine was exposed,” Cossel said in court last year. “She also said that her teeth were nubs and she most likely had ulcers for weeks or months that were really painful.”

The Leonard brothers and McCoy were indicted on charges of first-degree manslaughter and knowingly abuse/neglect of an adult.

The plea agreements the Leonards entered into reduced those charges to second-degree manslaughter and exploitation of an adult and recommend that each man serve consecutive 10-year sentences on each count for a total sentence of 20 years for both men.

The Leonards entered Alford pleas, meaning that they denied criminal wrongdoing but acknowledged that the Warren County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office had sufficient evidence to persuade a jury to convict them of second-degree manslaughter and exploitation of an adult.

Warren County Commonwealth’s Attorney Kori Beck Bumgarner said in court that Fikes’ surviving family was consulted about the plea offer and agreed to resolving the case through the plea agreement.

The Leonard brothers will return to court Oct. 15 for sentencing by Warren Circuit Judge J.B. Hines.

McCoy’s criminal case is pending. She is due back in court Nov. 12 for a pretrial conference.