Elder neglect trial begins with images of 'filth'
By KATE THAYER - kthayer@kcchronicle.com
ST. CHARLES – Responding to a possible stroke victim, a paramedic noticed something was amiss in the odor-filled, cluttered home in Geneva where ants crawled along the foot of an ailing 84-year-old woman's bed.
"I knew something wasn't right," Geneva paramedic Glen Baum testified Thursday on the first day of an elder abuse trial for two Geneva sisters – Jill and Julie Barry.
Baum, who is mandated by law to report suspicions of elder or child abuse, told medical personnel and police he suspected his patient, 84-year-old Mary Barry, could be a victim of abuse or neglect.
Her two daughters – Jill Barry, 55, and Julie Barry, 48 – have pleaded not guilty to charges of criminal neglect of an elderly person. Thursday marked the first day of their bench trial before Associate Judge Allen Anderson.
The Barry sisters called 911 about 9 a.m. April 20, 2007, reporting their mother might be having a stroke. It was later determined Mary Barry wasn't having a stroke that day, but she died one week later at Delnor Hospital from malnourishment and dehydration, coroners said.
After the 911 call, paramedics Glen Baum and John McCafferty arrived at the home in the 400 block of Peyton Street, finding a cluttered home with a "distinct" smell of urine and feces, according to testimony.
McCafferty described "an overall layer of filth" and unwashed dishes on the kitchen counters, along with clothes and other items in the basement, piled to the top of the steps.
Both also recalled an odor of urine and feces coming from Barry, who was in a bedroom just off of the kitchen.
McCafferty said Barry appeared to be dehydrated and "emaciated," estimating her weight to be about 75 to 80 pounds.
He also noticed fecal matter under her fingernails and that her clothes were soaked in urine.
Baum and a firefighter had to carry Barry out of the home on her bed sheet because the home's narrow stairs out the side entrance could not fit their ambulance stretcher.
When Baum was lifting back the sheet to carry Barry from the home, he noticed a trail of black ants on the foot of her bed.
That "threw the red flag up," leading Baum to report his suspicions to authorities, he testified.
At the hospital, nurses contacted police and senior services officials, prompting the arrival of Geneva police officer Eddie Jackson.
He testified Thursday that he observed Barry in her hospital room,and was shown bed sores on her shoulders, hips, back and heel.
Jackson also testified that Barry's clothing was in a pile on the hospital room floor, along with "small, dark bugs."
The Barry sisters told Jackson that their mother had a stroke about two years before and they were now taking care of her after a brief stay in a nursing home.
But, on April 20, 2007, the Barry sisters called 911 because their mother had diarrhea and "it became overwhelming," Jackson testified.
Julie Barry also told Jackson she would feed and bathe her mother daily and that her mother did not want to live in a nursing home, but rather stay at her house, where Jill and Julie Barry also live.
The trial will continue this morning, with testimony from Mary Barry's private physician and other doctors.
