WASHINGTON - There are serious questions Friday night about a D.C. program to help the poor after a woman who was supposed to be checked on daily was found dead inside her apartment.

Julius Bellamy says his 50-year-old mother was wheelchair bound, HIV positive, diabetic and struggled for years with cocaine and heroine. After living on the streets, Bellamy, who is also homeless, says his mother was placed in an apartment building on 9th Street NW through Mayor Fenty's Housing First initiative. 

She was even featured in a 2008 Washington Post column about homes for the homeless. Bellamy showed ABC 7 News photos he says he took of his mother's apartment after her decomposing body was discovered inside. There was little food, insect larvae infestations and filthy living conditions. 

"My mother died because the program she was in did not show the proper care to her," said Bellamy. "I am convinced that other people like my mother [are] definitely going to suffer."

Bellamy claims an action team with "Pathways to Housing," subcontracted through the city's Department of Health, was supposed to be regularly checking on and taking care of his mother.

"I understood they were supposed to monitor how she she was taking her medicine and that they should be able to shop for her and bathe her," he said.

Police sources say a "Pathways to Housing" case worker told detectives she last saw Bellamy on Aug. 13. Eight days later, sources say the case worker did a welfare check, used a key to open the apartment door and found Bellamy dead inside her bedroom.

Sources say based on evidence at the scene, it appeared the body had been there for a while. The medical examiner will make the final call as to the time and cause of death. 

"We love Catherine dearly. We saw her all the time. Catherine was being taken care of -- we can't control the choices people make but we as service providers and a program tried our hardest," said Christy Restress, director of "Pathways to Housing."

The Department of Mental Health is overseeing the entire case and sources say the investigation is ongoing.

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