Geneva neglect trial concludes, but verdict still two months away

Two Geneva sisters accused of neglecting their elderly mother, who was found covered in bedsores and feces seven days before her death in 2007, were described in court Wednesday as "angels" who provided care that was "nothing short of heroic."

"(The mother) had two angels on her shoulder - Jill and Julie," defense attorney Gary Johnson said, referring to his clients, Jill Barry, 55, and Julie Barry, 48, at a bench trial before Kane County Judge Allen M. Anderson. "I'm asking you not to make them convicted felons."

Anderson heard more than two hours of closing arguments, much of which focused on whether the sisters made reasonable efforts as caregivers, before announcing that he'd render his verdict Aug. 13.

The Barry sisters face up to three years in prison if convicted of criminal neglect in the April 2007 death of their 84-year-old mother, Mary Virginia Barry. In closing arguments, State's Attorney John Barsanti portrayed the defendants as having been overwhelmed by the responsibility of caring for their mother but unwilling to ask for help.

Over a period of four or five months, Barsanti said, the elder Barry lost more than a fourth of her body mass and the ability to communicate or feed herself. When paramedics were finally called to the Barry home on April 20, 2007, Mary Virginia Barry was severely malnourished, dehydrated and covered in bedsores.

"She was soaked in urine; she was covered in feces," Barsanti said. "Every medical professional was alarmed."

But Johnson argued that the Barry sisters provided around-the-clock care and kept doctor's appointments every six months. He said the elder Barry refused to consider home health care or moving to a nursing facility, and that dementia caused increasingly disruptive behavior.

Johnson said the sisters bathed their mother each day but did not see bedsores on her back because they had to restrain her legs and wash her from the front.

"They didn't take the easy way out," he said. "They soldiered on under conditions that were difficult and the slings and arrows of their mother."

Barry died seven days after being admitted to the hospital with complications from cancer and pneumonia, which medical experts testified could have been treated. Anderson dismissed two counts against the sisters alleging that neglect resulted in her death.