Written by: Christy Hoover
On the evening of Monday, April 24th, 2017, the body of a missing Fulton, Missouri man – Carl DeBrodie – was found encased in concrete inside of a storage unit. An extensive search for the 31-year-old had been underway since he was reported missing one week earlier on April 17th. The discovery of DeBrodie’s badly decomposed body and the investigation that followed painted a picture of a vulnerable young man who was neglected and abused by the very people he depended on for care. And sadly, Carl’s tragic story is just one of many examples of what can happen when the most vulnerable among us are left to fall through the cracks.
On November 18, 1985, Carl Lee DeBrodie was born to David Howard and Carolyn DeBrodie in Columbia, Missouri. Friends and classmates say Carl had a cheerful personality and was quick to offer a hug. Diagnosed with Autism at an early age, Carl was unable to read, write, or speak, but it didn’t seem to put a damper on his spirit. He loved dogs, being outdoors, driving the riding lawnmower, go-carts, fishing, and baseball. Family members say he also liked watching Walker Texas Ranger on TV and loved going to see the fire trucks at the local fire station.
Though Carl was seemingly a very happy-go-lucky kid, he faced a lot of challenges from the very beginning. In addition to his developmental and intellectual disabilities, even as a young boy Carl had a lot to deal with at home. His father had passed away, and his mother, Carolyn, was described by the Cole County Circuit Court as "severely intellectually, psychologically, socially and occupationally impaired". Western District Judge Lisa Hardwick found that grounds existed to terminate Carolyn’s parental rights. Carl’s brother, Nathan Clark, stated in a Facebook post that their parents were abusive. Clark and 2 of his siblings were placed in other homes and subsequently lost contact with Carl as they distanced themselves from their traumatic childhood. "I didn't want to be a part of our biological parents' lives," Clark said. Carl’s cousin Patrick DeBrodie told the Fulton Sun that he felt sorry for Carl. "To be honest, his mother and father weren't good parents," he said.
Mary Martin first saw Carl on his school bus route when he was about 10 years old. She was a bus driver, driving the morning and afternoon routes for Jefferson City Schools. She remembers being touched by the huge smile on his face despite having his broken arm in a cast at the time. Martin soon became Carl’s ‘big sister’ in the Big Brother Big Sisters of America program, and the Martins subsequently took Carl into their home. Some sources say this was when he was 11 or 12 while others say he was 13 or 14. Mary Martin says that Carl thrived while at their rural Callaway County home. He rode four-wheelers, loved to run and play outside, and even had his own pet horse. Martin told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch “We had a blast, he just loved us. We loved him. It was a family, just like anybody else’s. He was our child.”
According to the Columbia Tribune, in 1999 the Cole County Juvenile Court found “clear, cogent and convincing evidence” that Carl and his siblings had been abused or neglected and that his mother Carolyn “had a permanent mental condition rendering her unable to knowingly provide her children, including Carl, necessary care, custody and control.” Already living with the Martin family at that time, Carl was showing significant improvement according to court documents.
When Carl turned 18, he legally became his own guardian but continued to live with the Martins until he was 21. From there, he moved into the Brady Independent Living Community in Fulton, an assisted care facility where he would have help in learning to live more independently. While living at Brady, Carl worked at Kingdom Projects, a non-profit workshop that provides training and employment for adults with disabilities and special needs. It’s not known why, but according to 2014 court documents, Carl moved back in with his mother Carolyn less than a year after moving into the Brady house. His court-appointed guardian Jana Oestreich told the court that Carolyn’s home was still an unhealthy environment for Carl. She testified to a troubling scene when she visited the home in 2008 and found Carl chain-smoking and “just pacing and pacing and pacing”.
In 2009, Mary Martin began the process of petitioning Calloway County to transfer Carl’s legal guardianship to her. While that was pending, in 2010, Carl moved out of his mother’s home and into a facility in Millersburg called Second Chance Homes. Ostensibly, Second Chance was meant to be another opportunity for Carl to have help learning to live more independently in an environment similar to a typical family home. Oestreich, the legal guardian, testified that at Second Chance Carl stopped smoking and learned to feed the cows. But Mary Martin was concerned that all wasn’t well at Second Chance. While in her care, Carl wasn’t on any medication and was able to use the restroom independently. Since living at Second Chance, Martin noticed Carl had begun wearing adult diapers and seemed heavily medicated. She said he seemed “sad and lonely and lost”. Even worse, while visiting the Martins for Christmas, Carl was found to be covered in bruises. Mary said that she subsequently called a hotline in 2010 to report potential abuse happening at Second Chance, but a representative for the Missouri Department of Social Services seemed to deny that, telling the Fulton Sun "the Missouri Medicaid Audit and Compliance Unit has no referrals, hotline calls, complaints, or investigations” that relate to Second Chance. Mary Martin had also taken photos of Carl’s bruises and showed them to Oestreich, the legal guardian, who testified that she felt the bruises were likely a result of Carl “bumping into things outdoors”.
Because of Carl’s speech limitations, Martin couldn’t simply ask Carl what happened to him. She told the Columbia Tribune that Second Chance later told her that a fellow resident hit Carl. Mary claims that after her complaint to the hotline, Second Chance no longer allowed Carl to take her phone calls. An investigation into the alleged abuse of Carl was completed and no one was found to be responsible for his injuries, but we can find no further information on the details of that investigation.
Assessing Carl’s situation for the adoption proceedings, court-appointed guardian Oestreich stated that she saw “tremendous positive change” in Carl upon visiting him at Second Chance in 2010. She said she found Carl "happy, healthy, robust, cozy and comfortable” there. In comparison, Oestreich testified that she visited the Martins’ home and found it “very chaotic” with a lot of family members coming and going. In court documents, she’s quoted as saying “There is a lot of traffic inside of Mary's home and I'm not sure that type of environment is the secure and stable environment that someone with Carl's needs is best suited." Ultimately, Mary Martin’s petition for the guardianship of Carl was denied by Callaway County in April of 2010.
In 2011, Carl was 25. Still concerned and hoping to better Carl’s situation, Mary Martin petitioned Cole County Court to adopt Carl as an adult. Mary Beck was appointed by the court to be Carl’s guardian during the adoption. While visiting the Martins’ home that December, Beck noted that Carl seemed very at-home with the Martins. He had access to the entire house, got his own drinks, let the dogs out, and interacted comfortably with various family members. Beck also observed that visiting neighbors and friends seemed to genuinely enjoy Carl’s company. During this visit, Carl asked Mary Martin’s husband if he could stay there with them. Guardian Beck reported that Mr. Martin “hugged him, but told him he would have to leave and assured him that he was doing everything in his power to ensure that Carl could be a part of the family more often." Beck recommended that the court grant the adoption.
Just 6 months later in May of 2012, something had changed in how Carl seemingly felt about the Martins. By this time, Karen Digh Allen was now Carl’s court-appointed guardian for the adoption, and when she visited Carl at Second Chance, two employees in particular appeared to be heavily influencing Carl and affecting his behavior. Sherry Paulo was the Assistant Director of Second Chance Homes and Vickie Cole was the House Manager in the home where Carl had been living. When Allen tried speaking with Carl about potentially being adopted by Mary Martin, his response was very unexpected. She described him as “distraught, crying, screaming and shaking his head "no" when Martin's name was brought up”. Allen noted that Second Chance employees Paulo and Cole were constantly present during her visit with Carl, and it was her determination that the two “exerted immense influence over Carl's response to the Martin's name at the idea of adoption." In May of that year, Cole County ruled against the Martins’ request to adopt Carl as an adult seemingly for 2 main reasons. Carl’s consent was needed, and the court stated that no credible evidence was presented to support a finding that Carl knew the legal significance of a decision to consent to the adoption. And, legal guardian Karen Digh Allen declined to give consent to the adoption.
Martin once more appealed to the court in 2014, she still wanted to adopt Carl as an adult and take responsibility for his care in her home. The court denied her appeal and, sadly, she never saw Carl again.
At some point in the following months, Carl moved to a Second Chance home in Fulton, Missouri. And not much is really known about his life at Second Chance other than what we can see reported by his legal guardians during a few visits related to adoption or guardianship proceedings. What was his life like there day-to-day? Did he have friends? Were there enriching activities to keep him occupied or to aid in developing more independence? It seems Mary Martin’s access to Carl, whether by telephone or in-person visits, was increasingly limited by Second Chance beginning in 2010. But someone in Carl’s situation should have had multiple agencies monitoring his welfare on a regular basis through the years. His case manager from Callaway County Special Services should have been visiting him in-person monthly – she wasn’t; she simply falsified records to state that she had. He should have been evaluated by a community registered nurse each month – he wasn’t, the nurse also created falsified records of visits that never happened. The Missouri Department of Mental Health should have been auditing Second Chance every two years in order to renew facilities licenses and certifications. Those reviews should have included a thorough audit of Second Chance’s records in which they were supposed to document every resident’s treatment and progress on at least a monthly basis along with daily observation notes. Did any of these things actually happen the way they’re supposed to? Was any official agency truly paying attention? Carl wasn’t being cared for properly at Second Chance and somehow no one seemed to notice except Mary Martin. And what has now come to light about what the final years of Carl’s short life is heart-wrenching.
While the cause isn’t known, at some point in 2014, Carl began struggling to maintain a healthy weight. One of his caregivers at Second Chance actually did take Carl to a doctor who prescribed meal supplements that should have helped him gain and maintain a healthier weight. Sherry Paulo, Carl’s home manager, was responsible for making sure that Carl was taking his supplements and receiving all necessary medical care. But she did no such thing. Instead, she falsified doctors’ notes indicating that Carl was being treated by physicians while Carl continued to lose weight. In reality, Paulo had stopped taking Carl to see all of his physicians, including his mental health providers. Paulo’s husband, Anthony Flores, also worked in Carl’s Second Chance home as a caretaker. He observed Carl’s mobility declining. He was getting out of bed less and less, and when he did, he would move around very slowly.
According to the Missouri Attorney General and the Callaway County Prosecuting Attorney’s office, despite Carl’s obviously declining health, Flores and Paulo began taking him to their home for overnight stays during which they’d force him to perform unpaid manual labor. They also made Carl sleep on the concrete floor of their unfurnished basement during these visits. Even worse, and likely the cause of Carl’s needless demise, Sherry Paulo and Anthony Flores made Carl and another Second Chance resident physically fight each other for the entertainment of Paulo and Flores. This caused Carl to suffer serious injuries including at least 6 broken ribs. According to the federal lawsuit filed by Carl’s mother and aunt, Anthony Flores heard Carl screaming in their basement one night, went downstairs, and found DeBrodie in the midst of a seizure. Instead of getting Carl the emergency medical care he desperately needed, Flores and Paulo carried Carl upstairs and left him in a bathtub with the shower water running. Despite the fact that Carl was bleeding from his nose and mouth and convulsing in the bathtub, Paulo and Flores did nothing to help, they simply left him there alone to die a painful death. And as if it couldn’t get worse, they left Carl’s dead body in their bathtub for 2 or 3 days before stuffing him into a City of Fulton trash can like yesterday’s garbage. It’s now known that they then took the trash container to a storage unit and filled it with concrete, encasing Carl’s body inside.
Carl’s exact date of death isn’t known because Flores and Paulo didn’t report it. Sherry Paulo continued submitting falsified claims to Medicaid, which provided the funding for Carl’s ongoing care – and checks kept coming in to the tune of $106,795, which Paulo fraudulently collected.
Back at the Second Chance Home in Fulton, a company called Finck Supported Living Services was set to take over ownership of the facility on April 17, 2017. It wasn’t until the very morning ownership was set to change hands that Paulo and Flores reported to authorities that Carl had gone missing around 7:30 a.m. Presumably they decided to file the report because the new owners would quickly realize that a patient meant to be residing in the home wasn’t actually there. After 7 days of searching, investigators discovered Carl’s body in the storage unit in an advanced state of decomposition, leading them to believe he’d actually been dead for months.
5 Second Chance employees were indicted for several offenses relating to Carl’s death. A nurse plead guilty to health care fraud. Others plead guilty for providing false reports and obstructing an investigation. The Missouri Coalition for Quality Care called for a review of the Department of Mental Health and the State of Missouri was ordered to pay more than $1M to settle a federal lawsuit. Sherry Paulo and Anthony Flores entered guilty pleas in federal court for willfully failing to provide necessary medical care. Mary Martin told KOMU News that this was insufficient. "I would have liked to see them have some kind of manslaughter charge if not murder," she said. Paulo faces a maximum of 17.5 years in prison and Flores faces just over 15 years. It appears a sentencing hearing won’t be scheduled until a pre-sentence investigation by the United States Probation Office has been concluded. State charges are still pending against the two while the federal charges are being resolved.
Mary Martin doesn’t want people to forget Carl nor the senseless suffering inflicted upon him by the people he depended upon for care. She often posts fond memories of Carl on a Facebook group called Carl’s Helping Hands, and an organization of the same name has been registered as a non-profit charitable organization, seemingly with the goal of advocating for those with disabilities. If you’d like to find out more, search for ‘Carl’s Helping Hands’ on Facebook. There’s also a #JusticeForCarl hashtag being used on posts about Carl’s case on Facebook.
1 in 59 children in the U.S. is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. Many, like Carl, need specialized resources and care. If you’d like to learn more about how you can help, consider checking out a great organization called Autism Speaks at autismspeaks.org. No one should endure the suffering Carl faced, and while his death should serve as a wake-up call to those responsible for vulnerable children and adults in all of our communities, Carl’s short life also had an enduring impact on his friends and family who will surely remember his infectious smile and joyous spirit, which is a legacy worth celebrating.
Sources
Summers & Samson v. Second Chance Homes of Fulton, LLC.Case No. 2;18-cv-04044-MDH.
Lee, Kyreon. "Trials postponed for suspects charged in death of Carl DeBrodie". KRCG 13. 18 March 2019.
Wilbers, Helen. "A dark path: How Carl DeBrodie came to Second Chance". Fulton Sun. 30 April 2017.
Ruess, Brittany. "Former caregiver speaks out about Fulton man's care". Columbia Daily Tribune. 27 April 2017.
Ruess, Brittany. "Second Chance continuously canceled provider appointments". Columbia Daily Tribune. 22 May 2017.
Tuft, Carolyn & Mahr, Joe. "Broken promises, broken lives: Investigation found abuse and neglect of residents under state supervision". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 11 June 2006.
"Two years after Carl DeBrodie was reported missing, few criminal charges remain". KOMU 8. 17 April 2019.
Medina, David. "DeBrodie's guardian mother and Fulton community react to pleas". KOMU 8. 25 November 2019.
https://www.komu.com/news/debrodie-s-guardian-mother-and-fulton-community-react-to-convict-s-pleas?fbclid=IwAR3ZhOmi22w5YgCkd9CfCS6-jtrPxS0bPs30jjAwUVNnfyyvEd05ssRr3Fs
Odle, Madeline. "Loved ones hold funeral services for Carl DeBrodie". KOMU 8. 20 May 2017.
Brown, Elisha. "Caregivers Forced Disabled Man to Fight as 'Amusement', Left Him to Die: Lawsuit". Daily Beast. 31 May 2018.
Alcock, Andy. "Missouri reaches more than $1 million settlement in disabled man's death". KSHB 41 Kansas City. 26 July 2019.
Wilbers, Helen. "Family, friends remember Carl DeBrodie". News Tribune. 26 April 2017.
Nathan Clark FB post: https://www.facebook.com/krcgtv/posts/a-letter-written-to-carl-debrodie-from-his-biological-brother-nathan-clarkan-ope/10154596276226342/
https://www.facebook.com/myvoice4242017/posts/457540928192290?__tn__=K-R
https://www.facebook.com/myvoice4242017/posts/151012108845175?__tn__=K-R