Filth found year before Perry Co. boy's death

Editor's note: Ethan Patrick Williams, 4, died Aug. 25 from an antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection. Since his death, his mother, Emily Altom, and stepfather, Michael Altom, have been charged with manslaughter and child endangerment. The Southeast Missourian obtained Ethan's case file from the Department of Social Services under the Sunshine Law. Unless otherwise attributed, the information presented in this story is from that file.

When investigators from the Missouri Children's Division visited Emily and Michael Altom's home in rural Perry County, they discovered a filthy house filled with dirty dishes, trash and the unmistakable smell of pet urine.

The caseworker was joined by deputies from the Perry County Sheriff's Department. Upon observing the conditions, they immediately removed the couple's three children from the home.

That description sounds like what was found on Aug. 3, when officers and social service workers visited the Altoms' mobile home two days after their son, Ethan Patrick Williams, was hospitalized.

But it's not. It is what they found more than a year earlier when responding to a call made to the state child abuse and neglect hotline. The visit is detailed in the state case file for Ethan, who died Aug. 25 at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital in St. Louis.

Included in that file is the social services consultation conducted at Cardinal Glennon on Aug. 3. The Children's Division "stated that conditions at the home are 'even worse than last year' and are 'deplorable.' The house stench was detectable 1/2 - 1 mile away, there's rotting garbage and beer cans everywhere, the house is urine-soaked, along with feces, the bedroom is uninhabitable and there is a hole in the wall where possums have gotten into the house and given birth," wrote social worker Donna Erickson.

Hospital lab reports show Ethan was infected with an antibiotic-resistant strain of staphylococcus. According to Dr. Jane Turner, who performed Ethan's autopsy, the infection started in his blood, spread to his right leg and hip, then to his lungs. Such infections can enter the blood through any cuts or abrasions on the skin, experts said.

Emily and Michael Altom will have a preliminary hearing Dec. 2. They are free on $15,000 bond each. The voluntary manslaughter charges are based on allegations of medical neglect of Ethan. The child endangerment charges are tied to living conditions social service workers determined to be unsanitary and dangerous.

State law requires child abuse and neglect reports to be confidential unless the case involves the death or near death of a child. In those cases, it is up to the director of the Department of Social Services to decide whether releasing the file could harm other children from the home.

In Ethan's case, the two other children who lived in the Altom home are in protective custody, making the likelihood of harm low, said Deborah Scott, spokeswoman for the Department of Social Services.

"The purpose of the Sunshine Law is to open up government to the people," Scott said. "It is very important for us to be open and accountable and it is important for the public to understand the complexities and issues that are faced in child abuse and neglect cases."

The names of the children in the home with Ethan were deleted from the report before it was released. Family members and sworn statements filed with the criminal charges identify the other children as Ethan's older brother Holton Williams and younger half brother Dorian Altom.

In that June 9, 2004, visit, caseworker Terri Mungle went to the home with Perryville sheriff's Capt. Delbert Riehn and Cpl. Jason Kelley. They were greeted at the door by Ethan and his brother, Holton Williams. They were dirty and clad only in dirty underwear, according to Mungle.

"The boys came outside, and [deleted] picked up an animal skull from the yard and was showing us the skull," Mungle wrote in her report. "It appeared to have some meat and skin still on it."

Emily came to the door. When Mungle and the officers entered, they found "trash, food, cereal, cloths all over the floor and on the table and counters in the kitchen, dining area, and living room. Michael was asleep on the pullout bed and did not wake up until the officers spoke directly to him. There was a strong stench of old food and garbage in the home. The boys' room carpet smelled strongly of urine and pet feces."

"The baby, [deleted] was crawling on the floor in the midst of all the trash," Mungle wrote.

The three boys were taken to Emily's mother, Terri Murray, who lives with her husband, Lynn Murray, in a home just west of the Altoms. Six days later, with the mobile home cleaned thoroughly, the children were allowed to return.

The first visit to the home was unannounced. All the follow-up visits, arranged in advance, showed the home was being kept up, Mungle reported. The Altoms were referred to agencies that provide heating assistance, food and clothing. Michael Altom, who was unemployed at the time of the initial visit, found a job at Best Built Windows.

The case was closed in October 2004 when the Altoms showed satisfactory progress.

"When the division is satisfied that the family is maintaining the plan that was put in place, the case is closed," Scott said. "It is a fairly typical process."

Release of the case file caught the Altoms' attorney, Allen Moss of Cape Girardeau, by surprise. "I am a little taken aback that the Department of Social Services is releasing their investigative information."

Moss said he has advised the Altoms not to comment on their case. Neither they nor the grandparents could be reached for comment.

In reporting the Altoms after Ethan was hospitalized, a caller stated the home had reverted to the conditions seen in 2004. Ethan was taken for medical treatment, the caller said, when Terri Murray "threatened Emily with calling Family Services if she did not take Ethan to the doctor."

Murray told caseworker Donna Kuntze that she had kept the trailer clean.

"Mrs. Murray stated that she knew that her daughter's house was in bad condition," Kuntze wrote in the case file. "She stated she used to clean for her and realized she was not helping her by doing it for her. She stated she quit cleaning it about four months ago."

On Aug. 3, Kuntze went to the home with Riehn and Kelley, arriving as the Altoms returned from St. Louis. "Emily jumps out of her car. She has two boxes of trash bags in her arms. Emily appears to be very nervous. She is shaking and perspiring from her forhead," Kuntze wrote. "Emily stated that she knows that if I see the inside of the home the children will be removed."

Kuntze and the officers entered to find a home piled with dirty dishes, trash everywhere and stains on the couch from where Ethan soiled himself the day before he was hospitalized. There is dog feces on the floor of the boys' room and holes in the floor big enough for an opossum to enter.

The two remaining children were taken from the home. This time, however, they were not turned over to the grandparents. Despite pleas from Terri and Lynn Murray, they were not given the children because they had known for some time that the Altoms' home was unsanitary, Kuntze wrote

Kuntze spoke with one of the boys later that day at the Bollinger County Children's Division office. "He stated that his house is always dirty. He stated he has to sleep in the living room floor because his bedroom smells like dog poop."

The boy "colored a picture of a house. He asked if he could give it to me. He stated 'Thank you, Ms. Donna, for making me a happy home today.'"

rkeller@semissourian.com

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