Daughter: Mom covered up in bed in hopes son would stop beating her

CEDAR RAPIDS — The sister of George Deason, who is on trial this week for fatally assaulting their mother, testified Tuesday she found her mother’s house “trashed” on July 1, 2020, and her mother scared and lying in bed with the comforter over her head.

Deborah Deason said her mother, Elsie Deason, 71, told her she covered her head so that George Deason, 52, would stop beating her.

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Her brother was on the sofa in the living room when she entered the house. He said some people had broken in and assaulted their mother, the daughter testified.

When Deborah uncovered her mother, she could see she was badly beaten. Elsie’s eyes were swollen shut and some hair was missing. She helped her mother into the bathroom. She thought Elsie must be in shock because she had difficulty speaking.

George Deason is charged with second-degree murder, assault on person in certain occupations and interference with official acts with a dangerous weapon. Before the bench — non-jury — trial started Tuesday, his lawyers said he was going to file written pleas to assault and interference charges.

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Deason waived his right to a jury trial last month, and 6th Judicial District Judge Sean McPartland will decide the verdict on the second-degree murder charge. The trial is expected to go into next week and McPartland will file a written verdict, likely months after the trial ends.

Deborah Deason, in her testimony, said her brother came into the bedroom after she found her mother and told her he had a bump on his head, but she didn’t see anything and thought he looked normal. She didn’t believe his story about a break-in, she said.

She said her brother wasn’t concerned about their mother — only himself.

Deborah said she had seen her mother the day before and took her to get ice cream. She went home in the late afternoon or early evening and then came back to her mother’s around 8 p.m. Her mother didn’t have any injuries when she saw her, she said.

Then, on July 1, 2020, she didn’t hear from her mother, which was unusual because they talked every day. Deborah called her mother several times but got no response. She became concerned and went over to the house, finding it in disarray and her mother with severe injuries.

Deborah called 911 after her brother had tried to take her cellphone, she said.

Prosecutors played the 911 call in court, which was difficult to hear because Deborah was upset and crying. She told the dispatcher that her mother was badly beaten but conscious and the person she suspected, George Deason, had left the house.

Deborah said her brother left because he knew police were coming. He ran out the back door, toward an alley. She managed to get her mother out to the front porch, where paramedics treated her and then took her to the hospital.

Deborah said she saw strands of her mother’s hair and blood stains on her bed, which had been broken. The footboard had been pulled away from the frame.

She said her brother had moved in with Elsie in 2018 after getting out of prison, and he was “controlling and paranoid.” During the two years he lived with his mother, he had broken things in the house and he wouldn’t let her clean, Deborah testified.

George Deason was unemployed and received state food assistance, Deborah said. Her mom was on disability and she would give cash to her son.

One time, he threw out his mother’s food, Deborah testified, so she went over to cook because her mother hadn’t eaten all day. But George Deason attacked her with a board and knocked her down. He then got on top of her and Elsie tried to pull him off, but she fell backward and hurt her back.

Deborah filed a protective order for her mother, but then her mother wanted it removed so Deborah asked the court to remove it.

When her mother was in the hospital after being assaulted, Deborah said she still was scared George Deason was going to hurt her. Elsie remained in intensive care because of a brain bleed.

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Derek LaGrang, a former paramedic with Area Ambulance Service, who treated Elsie after the assault, said both of her eyes were swollen shut, she had facial and head trauma and dried blood on her face. She looked like someone who had been in a “boxing match.”

“It was very striking,” LaGrang said.

Officers who went to the hospital said doctors reported that Elsie had life-threatening injuries and couldn’t answer many questions from medical personnel or officers.

She died from her injuries about a month later, on July 23, 2020.

The prosecution continues its case Wednesday.

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