With sepsis and bed sores, neglected teen was 'lost in the cracks.' Why did no one call?

LUDLOW – There is no doubt in Ludlow Police Chief Scott Smith's mind that Joseph "Joey" Bishop, whose Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy kept him confined to his twin bed for the past two years, was in excruciating pain in the last weeks of his life as the bed sores that covered his back, legs and arms grew in size and severity.

And Smith is positive the three adults – his mother, his grandmother and his grandfather – who were supposed to care for him knew the 18-year-old's condition was getting worse. Court documents charging each of them with manslaughter in his death say, that is exactly why they didn't call anyone for help.

"They were afraid they were going to get in trouble for neglect," Smith said Thursday.

But what troubles Smith even more is that systems put in place to monitor children and the disabled failed Joey. No one ever called the police. Not a school, not the state – which at one time had an open case on him apparently when he was pulled out school to be homeschooled – and not Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, where doctors were to see him every six months but hadn't in two years ago, Smith said. No one, as far as investigators can determine, ever called to talk to Joey, to play video games or watch movies with him in the last couple of years. No relatives ever stopped by for a visit, he said.

Officials with at least two Kenton County school districts and Children's Hospital declined to discuss the case, citing privacy laws. Calls to the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services to determine when it closed its case on Joey, were not returned Thursday.

"Nobody had a clue. And that's one of my biggest frustrations," said Smith, who said he plans to try and schedule meetings to try to see why no agency followed up on Joey's care or his whereabouts. "Why was there no follow-up at all? My personal opinion is that we all, in public safety and health care need to be the backup for people who are disabled or those who can't care for themselves.

"If you are looking for a case of someone getting lost in the cracks, this is it," he said. "No one even knew this kid lived there."

Joey's mom, Jamie Bishop, 40, and his grandparents Raymond Martin, 67, and Sharon Martin, 65, remain jailed in Kenton County in the death. Raymond Martin told Ludlow Det. Eric Love that Joey had not been moved from his bed for months. His mother told the detective she last washed his body six weeks before his death. Court records said Joey "required care, including, but not limited to, bathing, cleaning, eating, walking, and all typical daily functions." He wore a diaper and required help using the bathroom.

The family called the fire department late on Feb. 10 to take Joey to the hospital after "he was no longer eating and slurring his words," according to the search warrant affidavit filed in Kenton County Court.

But Joey was "already suffering from sepsis so advanced that medical care was futile," the criminal complaint said. He died by the time Love arrived at the hospital on Feb. 11.

"I would say in my 19 years, this is among the one or two worst conditions of a body I've seen," the detective said. Court records note that the bedsores were so deep that in some places muscle and bone were exposed.

"To know that he was alive and suffering, that is the worst," Love said.

The chief was more graphic and succinct: Joey rotted to death.

Kenton County prosecutor Rob Sanders, who filed the charges, said he too wants to know more.

"At some point, the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services had an open case on Joseph. It was not open at the time of his death. I've requested a copy of their files to ascertain why," he said via email. "I anticipate this investigation will include looking into how Joseph came to be in the situation that resulted in his death but it's premature to comment on who, if anyone, failed to check up on him."

But to Chief Smith, most everyone failed Joey.

"This is a failure of society," he said. "We are so busy with everything else that sometimes we don't see what is right in front of us. Not one person called to say: 'I'm concerned about Joey.' Not a teacher. Not a friend. Not a relative."