Kentucky Couple Charged in Death of Adult with Down Syndrome

On Monday, a Kentucky couple was arrested and brought up on charges for allowing their 20-year-old son with Down Syndrome to die. According to the arrest warrant, the Kentucky couple ceased to provide the man with water and food soon after they’ve learned that the state won’t provide them with benefits.

Adult with Down Syndrome Was Bedridden

On Monday, the Winchester, Kentucky law enforcement officer arrested and charged 61-year-old Albert Christy and 65-year-old Patsy Christy with murder by neglect.

According to the authorities, the couple announced that their son, 20-year-old Logan Christy, who was diagnosed with a severe form of Down Syndrome, passed away in December, as a result of his life-long illness.

However, the coroner’s report painted an entirely different picture. Robert Gayheart, the Clark County Coroner who was in charge of the Christy case, testified before the court that upon performing Logan’s autopsy, he did not find any traces of undigested food in the stomach, despite Patsy claiming that she fed her son minutes before the collapsed.

The Kentucky couple’s court documents reveal that their ‘caring’ attitude towards their bedridden son shifted dramatically soon after Logan turned 18, which made him not eligible for applying for benefits. However, the prosecutor declared that the couple could have still tried to reapply and given the case’s severity, the state might have continued giving the boy his benefits.

Conclusion

Coroner Gayheart also stated that Logan’s cause of death was a combination of dehydration, malnutrition, and pneumonia. Furthermore, it would appear that the boy has stopped received medical treatment after the benefits stopped coming.

In their defense, the couple argued that they’ve always looked after their son, even after they stopped receiving money from the state. Patsy also told the judge that she recalls feeding her son 13 minutes before death.

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