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'It's disgusting:' Resident wants to move after JSO discovers decomposing body in Southside apartment

One resident wants to break her lease to get away from the smell, but says the complex isn't letting her.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A lot can go wrong in a rental unit such as plumbing, air conditioning and bad neighbors. Smell generally isn't a problem.

That's not the case for folks living in a Southside apartment complex.

People living there say police removed a badly decomposed body Saturday afternoon.

The stench and the sight of flies all around was enough to catch the attention of residents at Elliot Baymeadows apartments.

"Instant migraines and want to throw up to be honest with you, it's disgusting," said Kirsta Ellison, who lives in the apartment next to where the body was discovered.

Ellison noticed the smell a week ago, and contacted apartment management.

"Honestly, I just thought it was a dead animal," said Ellison. "I was cleaning and thought maybe something fell inside the fireplace."

Saturday, one of Ellison's neighbors called police.  

That's when they removed a body from an apartment that shares a wall with her bedroom and laundry room, nearly a full week after she first noticed the smell.

"They did say that he was in the last stages of decomposing," said Ellison. "To make matters worse, the electricity in his apartment is off, so the heat and smell got worse once the electricity got turned off."

Ellison asked to be relocated, but was told there were no available apartments. 

She says they won't allow her to her break her lease.

"I have two small children, ages six and four, who don't deserve to stay in there," said Ellison.

Agents at the leasing office declined to comment, and the management company, Birchstone Residential, did not return a phone call.

A PuroClean van arrived Monday afternoon to clean the unit.

The company's president said he couldn't' discuss specific cases, but said biohazard situations aren't uncommon.

"One is going over the surfaces with a cocktail of solutions to get rid of the smell, and we also have machines that will get rid of the smell," said PuroClean President Wayne Terry.

He says they usually can have places looking and smelling like new within three days.

Still, Ellison wants out.

"We were told by the police officers no one should be in this because of the chemicals and toxins from his body," said Ellison.

Ellison says she's reaching out to a lawyer involved, and doesn't intend to pay her August rent, so she will not be a resident for much longer.

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