Documents: Boy, Mt. Healthy grandfather argued before death

Two days before Mount Healthy police say a then-12-year-old boy assaulted and caused the death of his grandfather, authorities removed him from the home.

The boy and his 80-year-old grandfather, Fowler Agenbroad, had an argument on Aug. 3, 2016 about doing chores, according to juvenile court documents obtained by The Enquirer.

The boy struck Agenbroad with “a piece of metal,” and Agenbroad hit the boy with a cane, the documents say. Police investigated, but no charges were filed.

Police, however, took him to an emergency youth shelter.

The next day, Agenbroad agreed to allow the boy to return to his Mount Healthy home. Agenbroad had cared for him since he was an infant because the boy’s mother and father struggled with drug abuse. Both eventually died from overdoses.

On Aug. 5, 2016, paramedics were called to the St. Claire Avenue house and found Agenbroad unconscious on the floor. He had a broken neck, according to court documents. He died the next day.

The boy, who The Enquirer is not naming, told police that day he and Agenbroad had argued about doing the dishes.

According to the documents:

• The boy said when Agenbroad walked away, he “tripped on a rug, falling into (a) wall and to the ground.”
• The boy said cuts on his hand were from punching a window – he’d become angry about how long it took for paramedics to arrive. 
• The day of the incident, he was taken the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center psychiatric unit. He was discharged four days later to the custody of Hamilton County Job and Family Services.
• The agency placed him at a youth home for kids with emotional, behavioral and other mental issues.

Police at the time were still investigating, and it wasn’t until seven months later, on March 13, that the boy was charged in Hamilton County Juvenile Court with murder and reckless homicide.

Officials haven’t released details about the investigation and haven’t explained the delay in bringing charges.

Death initially thought to be an accident

Family members either could not be reached for comment or declined to comment. It appears they at least initially believed Agenbroad died after an accidental fall. His sister, Hattie Howell, posted on Facebook on Aug. 6, 2016 that Agenbroad "had a fall that broke his spine.”

Court documents show that after Agenbroad’s death, no family was available or able to take in the boy, who turned 13 this year.

His mother and father both died in recent years from overdoses involving heroin and fentanyl. The family who adopted his younger brother – who was placed in foster care immediately after birth – said they couldn’t take him in.

Between August 2016 and March, he lived at the youth home and attended school there as a 7th-grader, earning straight-A’s, according to a November report card his maternal grandmother posted on Facebook. He is now being held at a juvenile detention facility, officials said.

The boy had lived with Agenbroad since his birth in January 2004. Records show the boy’s father, Agenbroad’s son, Randall, was incarcerated at the time. His mother, Lisa Agenbroad, had a history of drug abuse dating back many years.

In a petition for custody Fowler Agenbroad filed in May 2004, he said the parents were homeless, living at a Sharonville EconoLodge and were “unable to care for the child.”

A year later, when Lisa Agenbroad gave birth to another son, both admitted drug use. The infant had morphine in his system, according to court documents.

Mother, father admit drug use

Lisa said she used both cocaine and heroin “during her pregnancy and near the time of birth,” the documents say. Randall also admitted his own use of cocaine and heroin.

By November 2006, the second child had been adopted by his foster family. Fowler Agenbroad told a social worker he couldn’t care for two children.

The documents also detail how in 2005, Agenbroad underwent surgery and asked Lisa and Randall to move in with him for two weeks to help care for their son.

They stayed only one week, the documents say, “and slept most of the week.” Agenbroad said he often found the boy wandering around the house, unattended.

Court records show both parents were arrested repeatedly in the succeeding years. Lisa Agenbroad had several drug-related convictions. Randall Agenbroad faced charges ranging from possessing a hypodermic needle with drug residue to theft. In at least two cases, he admitted stealing from his father.

In 2010, he stole his then-74-year-old father’s check card and personal identification number and withdrew money from his father’s account. In 2014, he stole a credit card as well as more than $500 in cash from his father, court documents say.

Lisa Agenbroad died in March 2015 from an overdose involving heroin and fentanyl. Randall Agenbroad died in January 2016 from an overdose caused by heroin and fentanyl.

Hamilton County Job and Family Services has taken permanent custody of the boy, who in January was reported to be doing well at the youth home. Potential families were being "explored for possible placement and adoption."