Sons charged in mother’s neglect
Neglect alleged in court documents
Two brothers were arrested on charges their neglect caused her injuries.
LEOMINSTER » After EMS personnel responded to a home on Day Street Sunday on a report of a woman with weakness, they found a 72-year-old woman on a couch and covered with feces and urine that she had been sitting in for at least three days, which led to the arrest of her two sons, according to police and court documents.
When EMS arrived they found the woman — who couldn’t move one of her arms — with mottled skin, an altered mental state, weak voice and appearing dehydrated, documents state. They promptly transported her to an area hospital for treatment, the reporting officer said.
The officer then went to the hospital to speak to the woman about her condition and the doctor treating her, the officer reported.
The doctor told the officer that
the woman had a significant amount of fecal matter “caked’ into her backside and genital area, which had sustained “significant damage” because of the amount of time she had been sitting without being cleaned, the officer reported.
The officer asked the victim several questions about her sons, Kenneth D. Campbell Jr., 49, and Keith I. Campbell, 48, both of 327 Day St., and whether they had abused her and how often they help her, the officer reported.
She told the officer that her sons don’t hit her, but only helped her no more than once a month, before she was read an abused person’s notice of rights by the officer, the officer reported, adding the woman could not elaborate on her answers, and was so weak she was unable to sign the form.
The officer went back to the woman’s home to speak to her sons, the officer reported.
When the officer was met at the door by Keith and Kenneth Campbell, they would let the officer in the home, but the officer reported a strong odor of fecal matter emanating from the slightly opened door, the officer reported.
When asked how their mother had ended sitting in her own waste for at least three days, the pair said a nurse had been there a day or two before and cleaned her, but then changed their story when the officer said it appeared that she had been left alone longer.
They then said she had been sitting in the same area for a couple of days, the officer reported.
When the officer asked why, the pair said she told them she was fine and didn’t want any help, and when asked why she didn’t want any help, they said she experienced pain when they touched her and that she probably wanted “to die here,” the officer reported.
The officer went back to the hospital and spoke again with the woman who told him she wanted help from her sons, wanted to be at the hospital, wanted to be cleaned, and that she understood the questions, the officer reported, adding she did say at the end of the questions she wasn’t sure she wanted to be at the hospital.
The officer returned to the home and placed Kenneth and Keith Campbell under arrest on a single charge of permitting serious injury to an elderly or disabled person, the officer reported.
When arraigned on Monday, both pleaded not guilty, and were released on personal recognizance and ordered to stay away from their mother.
She told the officer that her sons don’t hit her, but only helped her no more than once a month, before she was read an abused person’s notice of rights by the officer, the officer reported, adding the woman could not elaborate on her answers, and was so weak she was unable to sign the form.