Judge could soon sign settlement in DeBrodie lawsuit

A federal judge is expected to sign a settlement between the family of Carl DeBrodie and several Callaway County agencies.

The parties involved held a settlement conference Tuesday morning in Jefferson City. Rudy Veit, an attorney representing DeBrodie’s mother, Carolyn Summers, said the judge would sign the settlement.

DeBrodie’s mother sued Callaway County Special Services, the county’s public administrator and Second Chance Homes of Fulton following the discovery of her son’s body in a storage unit. Police believe DeBrodie had been dead for some time before finding him in April 2017. Five of his caretakers at Second Chance Homes have been charged for disposing of his body and lying to police about it.

“Never assume that people will do the right thing on a regular basis when you trust your family members to some other organization,” Veit said of what he learned from handling the case. “The conduct is rather shocking, a level that I am shocked that anyone would treat another human being that way.”

Veit would not reveal the exact dollar amount agreed to in the settlement, but said it was enough to help Summers for the rest of her life. Payments will be made periodically from the agencies involved, with some money going toward organizations that helped DeBrodie while he lived. Those include the Special Learning Center in Jefferson City and Wonderland Camp in Rocky Mount.

Representatives with both groups declined to comment on Tuesday.

Veit said he hoped the settlement would send a message to other group home facilities to review and revise policies dedicated to ensuring the safety of the residents.

“We have reached a settlement of a significant amount sufficient to send a warning to all homes, and anyone who’s caring for the well being of another, that their actions or inactions will suffer consequences,” Veit told ABC 17 News.

Veit said the parties agreed not to discuss the exact amount of the settlement. He said that keeps Summers safe from potential scam artists. Payments will be structured so that Summers does not receive the whole amount of the settlement all at once.

It’s unclear if Bryan and Mary Martin, two former guardians of DeBrodie, will be included in the settlement. Both petitioned the state and federal courts to allow their claims based on “equitable adoption.” A case is still pending in the state appeals court over the issue. Daniel Dunham, attorney for the Martins, declined to comment on the settlement, but said he was still pursuing the state case.

Attorneys and officials with Callaway County did not return messages seeking comment. An attorney for Second Chance Homes of Fulton and its former owner, Rachael Rowden, did not return a message on Tuesday.

Two of the five criminal defendants, Anthony Flores and Anthony R.K. Flores, have jury trials scheduled in Callaway County at the end of November.

Melissa Delap, a nurse with the state’s Department of Mental Health, pleaded guilty in August to health care fraud. She admitted to lying on reports to the state’s Medicaid program about face-to-face meetings she said she had with DeBrodie, but did not actually perform.

Several individual defendants with CCSS and the public administrator’s office were dismissed from the suit in October. Those included Karen Digh Allen, the county’s public administrator, and Julia Kaufmann, director of CCSS.