Charges dropped in sherry-enema death Prosecutors cite lack of evidence in case where a man died after getting a sherry enema

Tammy Warner. Tammy Warner. Photo: BRETT COOMER, CHRONICLE Photo: BRETT COOMER, CHRONICLE Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Charges dropped in sherry-enema death 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

ANGLETON — Prosecutors have dropped charges that a Lake Jackson woman caused her husband's death by giving him a sherry enema, leading to alcohol poisoning.

Tammy Jean Warner, 45, now of Texas City, had been scheduled to go on trial Monday on a charge of negligent homicide in the death of husband, Michael Warner. It was the sixth trial date set for the case.

Brazoria County District Attorney Jeri Yenne said Wednesday that the grand jury originally believed there was probable cause for indictment, but prosecutors became convinced that there wasn't enough evidence to bring the case to trial.

"This was an unusual case in that there was a consent issue," Yenne said. "It is as if I were dying of lung cancer and you brought me cigarettes."

Court records state that the case was dismissed Aug. 31 due to insufficient evidence.

Neither Warner nor her attorney could be reached for comment.

Michael Warner, a 58-year-old machine shop operator, died at the couple's Lake Jackson home on May 21, 2004. According to an autopsy report, Warner had been administered an enema with enough sherry to get a blood alcohol level of 0.47. That is almost six times the level that can lead to a driving while intoxicated charge.

At the time Warner was indicted, Lake Jackson police detective Robert Turner said that Michael Warner was a longtime alcoholic who sometimes used enemas to get drunk because a medical condition made it painful for him to drink.

Turner said a person who drinks alcohol will usually pass out and stop drinking before ingesting a lethal dose. A person's body can continue to absorb alcohol through an enema after the person passes out, he said.

In a 2005 interview, Warner said her husband often drank alcohol, but that he had been addicted to enemas since he was a child. She said he often used alcohol in that manner to get drunk.

The original charge said she had provided the alcohol for the fatal enema. Warner said she was with her husband when he bought the sherry.

She said the morning of his death she woke up to find him unresponsive. She called 911 and emergency technicians told her he had died.

richard.stewart@chron.com