Mom: I Didn’t Know My Son Was Dead Until Smell Set In From Decomposing Body
The mother of an 8-year-old Pennsylvania boy found dead said her husband waited about four days to reveal to her that their son had died. Kimberly Tutko said she noticed a strange odor coming from the third floor of her home on Friday night. That smell was her son’s decomposing body.
Her husband, Jarrod Nicholas Tutko, the primary caretaker for the disabled boy, went upstairs and came back with body of their son, Jarrod Jr., wrapped in a sheet and laid him on the bathroom floor, she said.
Kimberly Tutko said she pulled the sheet back and quickly realized he had been dead for several days, according to PennLive.
According to Kimberly Tutko, her husband told her the child died on Tuesday.
Jarrod’s room
“I said to him ‘Why didn’t you say anything?'” Kimberly Tutko said. “He said he was too afraid to say anything because of other kids in the house.”
That’s when Kimberly Tutko said she called 911.
WFAA reports:
Kimberly Tutko told Pennlive she understands people will find it difficult to believe she did not know her son was dead.
She said her son was severely mentally disabled and often difficult to control. He would rip up the flooring and carpeting of his bedroom, smear his feces on the floor and walls, and refuse to wear a diaper, she said.
He lived on the third floor and was primarily cared for by his father, while she looked after another disabled child who requires round-the-clock care and stays on the second floor, she said.
The father, 38-year-old Jarrod Nicholas Tutko Sr, was charged with endangering the welfare of children, concealing the death of a child and abuse of a corpse early Saturday morning, according to court records.
His bail was set at $500,000 on Saturday morning and he is being held in Dauphin County Prison.
Kimberly Tutko has not been charged with a crime.
Harrisburg Police say that Jarrod Tutko informed his wife about the boy’s death “when the odor of decomposition became too strong.”
An autopsy for the boy is scheduled for next week. The couple’s five other children were placed in protective custody.
H/T: My BFF @ComgenKDT with thanks.
Images: PennLive.
Obewon August 2nd, 2014 at 11:06 pm
‘Why didn’t you say anything?’ ‘I’ve been busy with life insurance paperwork!’
tiredoftea August 3rd, 2014 at 12:21 am
Sad, sad stuff. I really want to believe that these people were overwhelmed with the difficulties of their life, but it almost strains credulity to read this.
kriselda gray August 3rd, 2014 at 11:32 pm
Yeah – it bothers me that she hadn’t noticed her son was missing for 4 days… I get that she’s busy caring for the other disabled child, but did she just not ever check on her 3rd-floor son? That just seems a bit off, IMO.
Carolina Gonzalez August 3rd, 2014 at 12:50 am
I hope she goes to jail along with her husband for life and never see the kids again
Jaz August 3rd, 2014 at 2:38 am
Jail seems to be the answer for everything in the US. Unfortunately jail, mostly, is NOT the answer. It’s called preventive measures that will see a decline in stories like these and much of your gun violence also. People in the US and other 3rd world countries need to step up to the plate and provide healthcare, unbiased education and close the inequality, in their societies.
Seriously folks, it’s a no brainer.
Jaz August 3rd, 2014 at 2:25 am
This is what happens when a country goes without long, over-due, universal healthcare. Mental healthcare for these children and their parents.
It will take the USA another generation to right the injustices brought on by insurance companies and their greed for gross profits.
KABoink_after_wingnut_hacker August 3rd, 2014 at 7:27 am
Precisely!
All civilized countries have universal healthcare except the US.
They don’t incarcerate as many of their citizens for non violent crimes either, because their health systems fund rehab and other options.
Cosmic_Surfer August 3rd, 2014 at 5:51 pm
We used to have care for severely impaired people…Reagan “de-warehoused”..also known as closing the programs, forcing them on families without any capability of caring for them or out on the street.