Geneva firefighters testify in daughters' neglect trial

Two firefighters testified Thursday about the foul conditions they found surrounding an 84-year-old Geneva woman a week before she died of complications from pneumonia, bladder cancer, dehydration and malnutrition.

The testimony came as Kane County prosecutors began building a case against the woman's two daughters, Jill and Julie Barry of Geneva, who are charged with criminal neglect of an elderly person.

"There was an overwhelming odor of urine and feces," Geneva firefighter John McCafferty said, describing the scene where he found Mary Virginia Barry. "I could see all the bones in the upper body. She looked very emaciated."

Emergency workers were called the morning of April 20, 2007, to a house on the 400 block of Peyton Street for a report of a possible stroke victim.

Minutes later, McCafferty said, he and another firefighter arrived to find a stairway entrance so cluttered that the elderly woman had to be taken out of the home wrapped in a bed sheet rather than on a stretcher.

The firefighters described the woman's body as having bedsores and showing signs of dehydration. Her bed sheets and clothes were soaked with urine, she had feces under her fingernails, and she was in an "altered mental state," McCafferty said.

"I saw black ants crawling on her bed," another firefighter, Ed Baum, testified. "It was very bad. I knew something wasn't right."

Mary Barry was taken to Delnor Hospital, where nurses photographed her wounds and police began gathering information. She died about a week later.

Kane County State's Attorney John Barsanti, who is prosecuting the case, said the state intends to prove the Barry sisters failed to provide "reasonable" care to maintain their mother's life.

Defense attorney Gary Johnson indicated in a brief opening statement that he intends to argue his clients made a "good faith" effort but were unable to care for the woman, who resisted going into a nursing facility.

Also taking the stand Thursday was Geneva police officer Ed Jackson, who said the sisters told him they had been caring for their mother since she suffered a stroke two years before.

Jackson said the sisters told him they each worked different shifts so someone would always be home.

"Julie said she took care of her mother and that her and her sister worked it out so they could constantly keep an eye on her," he said. "She said she fed and cleaned her on a regular basis."

All three of Thursday's witnesses described Jill and Julie Barry, ages 55 and 48, respectively, as cooperative and acknowledged they were the ones who sought emergency medical care for their mother.

The bench trial in front of Judge Allen M. Anderson continues Friday.