Neglectful parents sentenced to DOC
May 21—Both parents of a young man with spina bifida have pleaded guilty to his neglect and been sentenced to prison.
Brandon Maxwell, 23 at the time, had lain in bed for three months and was unconscious and covered in filth when medics reached him in 2021, according to court records.
His parents, Lloyd D. Maxwell, 49, and Bridget Toney, 46, were each charged with one count of neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury.
Brandon Maxwell suffered from numerous decubitus ulcers, also called bedsores, on the lower half of his body, police reported. Some of the sores were deep enough to expose bone, and a doctor found feces and mouse droppings in his wounds, according to court records.
Doctors determined his wounds were severely infected and "non-healable," according to court documents. They at first considered an amputation from the navel down, but determined Maxwell was not a candidate for that, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Brandon has the intellectual ability of a 10- or 12-year-old, and was unable to care for himself, according to court records.
"End-of-life care was the remaining option for Brandon," Lebanon Police Detective Bryan Spencer reported. Brandon was put into the care of other family members, authorities said.
Brandon's sister visited and was alarmed to find her brother in that condition and called for medics, police reported.
A police investigator visited Brandon in his parents' S. Meridian Street apartment in Lebanon three days before he was hospitalized, according to reports. The investigator told police he smelled an extremely foul odor on the stairs to the apartment, that Brandon was in bed with a blanket covering his lower extremities, and he didn't see the sores, Spencer wrote.
The charge of neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury is a level 3 felony that carries a sentence range of three to 16 years, with the presumptive sentence being nine years.
Lloyd pleaded guilty to his charge recently, while Bridget pleaded guilty in October.
Lloyd was sentenced to 10 years with the Indiana Department of Correction. He is to serve the first five in an Indiana prison. The next five years are to be served as a combination of in-home detention and supervised probation. Lloyd was given credit for 427 days already served while awaiting trial.
Bridget was sentenced to nine years with the DOC. Three years were to be served in prison, but she had three years of credit for time already served. The next six are to be served on supervised probation.
Editor's note: The Boone County Jail did not have a photo of Bridget Maxwell to provide.
