Will Adult Protective Services Release My Dad

Two men have been charged with abuse and embezzlement after their grandfather's death.

PULLMAN, Mich. — William Fitzhugh was found by his son on Oct. 18, 2021, curled upward in the fetal position on a blank mattress in a habitation with mountains of feces in the bath, due to lack of working septic. William had been carrying buckets of water to the bath to flush the toilet himself for years.

William died on Dec. 12, 2021.

The decease of William Fitzhugh, an 82-year-old man from Pullman, Michigan, a minor, unincorporated community in Allegan County, has now been ruled a homicide.

According to the medical examiner, the expiry of William Fitzhugh was due to "complications of multiple injuries, malnourishment, and neglect."

Cory Nethery, 24, and Christopher Fitzhugh, 27, are charged with elder abuse and embezzlement of their grandfather William Fitzhugh. They were arraigned in Allegan County Commune Court in November of 2021.

The 2 accept non been charged in connection to William's decease.

Family says Eula, William's widow, withal wakes upward in the night wondering if she is safe.

FOX 17 has spent months bringing this story to calorie-free, looking into the legal case and pulling documents from investigators with both Adult Protective Services and the Allegan County Sheriff's Office.

William spoke with Play a trick on 17 before his expiry on Dec. 12, 2021.

He said Cory and Christopher were at one point "proficient boys" but a bad drug problem with methamphetamine made them angry and calumniating. Family tells Play a joke on 17 William and Eula adopted Christopher and Cory, and that they have lived in the home with their grandparents much of their lives. Things got bad after their drug addiction began roughly five years ago.

William described times when his grandsons would beat him to the ground to have his money. When he wouldn't give them money, that's when the abuse got much worse.

William was taken to the hospital by his children on October. 18, 2021. His injuries were extensive and horrific, including a broken hip, femur, multiple cleaved ribs in various stages of healing, a broken olfactory organ and a collapsed lung. He was malnourished, and his legs were the size of loved ones' forearms.

Medical records, given to Pull a fast one on 17 past family, said he had non been to a doctor for a few years. When renal cancer was discovered during his hospital stay in October 2021, information technology was as well late. Doctors said William's injuries were also all-encompassing to treat his cancer. The family chose to identify him in hospice.

His family unit is upset the situation got to this point to brainstorm with.

For years, the Michigan Section of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Adult Protective Services division and the Allegan Canton Sheriff's Office received reports of abuse at the hands of Cory and Christopher towards William and Eula.

Allegan Co. Sheriff's Office FOIA by WXMI on Scribd

William's son Steve Fitzhugh says his dad always got the worst of information technology. Steve said William wouldn't let his grandkids hit his wife.

Eula is now under the intendance of her daughter Sherry and her son Steve. She has dementia.

At least four referrals were fabricated to Developed Protective Services dating back to 2017. FOX 17 requested via the Freedom of Information Act all Adult Protective Services reports for William and Eula Fitzhugh.

FOX 17 FOIA Documents Redacted past WXMI on Scribd

They each were airtight considering William said everything was fine, that Cory and Christopher weren't abusing him, taking his money or neglecting him.

Allegan County Prosecutor Myrene Koch says this is not uncommon, and what makes cases of elder abuse and then difficult to pursue.

"Ofttimes we encounter the alleged victim is competent, but they're not willing to admit the abuse for a variety of reasons," Koch said.

Family says with all the contact with land agencies and law enforcement, more should have been done.

"The unabridged organisation let my dad downwardly," Steve Fitzhugh said.

Generally, Adult Protective Services is able to continue in conducting investigations and back up cases for charges towards abusers without a compliant victim through financial and medical records.

But because in this case, William was determined to exist competent, and considering he did non see the specific requirements for a "vulnerable adult" under state constabulary, according to the MDHHS, in that location was null more they could exercise.

The MDHHS gave Play a trick on 17 the post-obit statement:

"The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is saddened past the death of Mr. Fitzhugh. We express our condolences to his family and loved ones. MDHHS is committed to doing whatever we tin can under statute to protect vulnerable adults from any abuse, neglect or financial exploitation.
An developed who demonstrates capacity to make his or her own decisions has the right to decline Developed Protective Services. Adult Protective Services workers who visited Mr. Fitzhugh in-person found that he demonstrated capacity to make his ain decisions. He denied any abuse (and there were not visible signs of corruption when Developed Protective Services visited him), neglect or financial exploitation and declined services from Developed Protective Services. As a effect, MDHHS had no basis for filing a petition for guardianship."

MDHSS

Family unit of William says the idea no one saw signs of corruption is ridiculous.

The last in-person visit by Adult Protective Services to William's home was May 11, 2021. Another case was opened in June of 2021, but no in-home visit was made, as indicated in the reports given to FOX 17 via FOIA.

That report states William is "low take chances" for all categories of elder abuse in the May 11 report.

He would die by homicide only 7 months later.

"What they've done to me, they need jail time," William told FOX 17 shortly before his death.

One look behind the door to William'south home of more than 50 years, and you won't recognize it every bit a abode.

It'southward a shell of a house. Feces mounts in the bath. The home hasn't had working septic for as long as iv years, says William's family.

The kitchen is covered with clay. William was found on a bare, dirty mattress curled upward in the fetal position.

Paper mâché feebly attempts to repair portions of the walls that accept holes in them — holes that Willam said Cory and Christopher punched through.

Inside William Fitzhugh'south abode

Even neighbors of William and Eula knew something was up when Eula started walking to the grocery shop just a few blocks downwardly from their dwelling, saying she had "never had to walk earlier."

"It's just not right. They both worked their a**** off their whole life," neighbor Patrick Barnes said.

Myrene Koch says information technology's easy looking back and saying more could accept been done.

"I call back all the agencies that investigate these things do everything they tin can. The difficulty is, when y'all find out something later, you're looking back going, 'What else could we do?'" Koch said.

Family says a lot more could have been washed. The sheriff'southward office noted increases in violence at the Fitzhughs' address more than once in reports obtained by FOX 17 via a Liberty of Information Act request.

"We've tried everything to get aid in here, and it merely didn't come up," said Steve.

The Allegan Canton Sheriff'south Part did alert Adult Protective Services on more than one occasion.

Both Cory and Christopher were arrested summertime of 2021 for assaulting a police enforcement officer and other drug-related charges, only never faced accusations of abusing their grandparents.

Instead, the ii were placed back in his home.

The corruption and fail arrests only come after William was out of the business firm for proficient.

But getting William out of that situation would show to be hard. It'south something that haunts his children. They wish they had washed more sooner, proverb they would give anything for more than time with their father.

The process has been difficult and confusing.

Repeated calls to country and county agencies proved not to exist fruitful. They don't understand why the agencies who are supposed to preclude this type of thing from happening could let this to go on for so long without doing something, saying their father was a victim who was afraid to become assist.

It wasn't until they filed for temporary guardianship of their father that they were able to get a sheriff's deputy to escort them into his abode.

"There are systems put in place to protect people. And nobody protected him. He was being starved, beat, abused." William's niece Charlotte Goodell said.

Steve says it took EMTs an hour to get his dad out of the firm.

William was establish curled up in the fetal position on a blank mattress, covered in his own excrement on October. 18, 2021.

It took William more than than a week to acknowledge the truth. Steve says his father believed he'd exist placed dorsum in his home with Cory and Christopher and was agape to say what happened because of that.

Subsequently William realized he would never leave the infirmary or hospice services, he began to talk.

William told authorities and Adult Protective Services he didn't break his ribs by doing thousand work; he didn't fracture his femur from a bad fall; he didn't break his hip on accident.

He said Cory beat him the worst, and Christopher had striking him in the past, as well.

For the first fourth dimension, APS doesn't close the case.

Charges from the prosecutor's office would follow roughly 2 weeks later on for Cory and Christopher for abusing and financially exploiting their grandfather.

Cory Nethery remains in Allegan County Jail. Christopher Fitzhugh is out on bond.

Seeing Christopher walk gratuitous infuriates Steve, who says there is nothing worse than seeing the man who is charged with abusing your father around their small town.

In the last week, a report from the Michigan Office of the Auditor General'due south Office confirmed what the Fitzhughs take known all along: improvement is needed for the systems put in place to protect people like William Fitzhugh.

The 82-folio audit assesses whether the MDHHS effectively supervises its Adult Protective Services department.

The audit concludes in essence that the MDHHS needs to improve the supervisory review of APS complaints and needs to better evaluate APS.

The MDHHS has stated in the audit they plan to do just that.

However, the MDHHS agrees with merely some portions of the finding. The section disagrees with some areas, specifically effectually the wording of land law, stating the police as written prevents them from complying with what the Office of the Accountant Full general proposes.

The Role of the Accountant Full general also states that their inspect of APS establish that the MDHHS did not adequately study criminal activity to law enforcement as required by country law 27% of the fourth dimension.

The MDHHS argues that the ambiguous laws are to arraign.

The accountant full general disagrees with that, claiming the law is clear.

The Central Intake Partition monitored less than i% of cases and stopped monitoring cases all together on Sept. 30, 2019, the OAG concludes.

In the audit, the OAG also stated that 25% of cases referred to APS were non reviewed when closed and that the MDHHS didn't require them to be reviewed.

Co-ordinate to the recent audit, supervisors too do not conduct required reviews of:

38% of cases where investigations showed moderate or loftier run a risk at the time the example was ready to close
37% of cases open for more five months
29% of cases that were airtight because of an adult's death.
20% of cases were not handled inside 24 hours as required past state law.

The Auditor General's Office besides found that 40% of the Central Intake Partition of Adult Protective Services did not get trained on policy and decision making.

There is no requirement for APS supervisors to be trained in a supervisory role, according to the OAG's office.

The Fitzhugh family requested their case be handled outside of Allegan County, as they have lost their faith in county government.

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