West Seattle Crime Watch: Sons charged with mistreating elderly father

Criminal mistreatment is the charge filed in relation to the case of an 86 year-old Alki man who died after being found in such bad condition, he died days later. This happened in 2010; two of his sons have just been charged this month. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office tells WSB they are due in court the day before Thanksgiving to answer charges. 57-year-old Kenneth Shaw and 54-year-old Keith Shaw are charged with second-degree criminal mistreatment because of what happened to their father Kyle Shaw Jr.

This story was first reported last night by seattlepi.com. Today we obtained the court documents, which say it happened almost exactly two years ago when the brothers were living with, and fully financially supported by, their father and 83-year-old mother. A unidentified family member called an ambulance, reporting that their father was in “an altered state of consciousness” after not eating or drinking for a week. The ambulance EMT saw and smelled filthy conditions and discovered that the older man’s socks looked as if they had grown into his feet, which medics eventually described as “rotting.” Other problems were found at the hospital.

Meantime, an investigation proceeded, and Keith Shaw is quoted as ultimately telling authorities that they didn’t want to put their parents into a nursing home because it would cost $100,000 a year and would “clean out the accounts,” undesirable to them because he had no retirement coverage and his brother Ken had never worked. Their brother and sister-in-law next door also were reported to be living off their parents’ money.

Ten days after being taken to the hospital, Kyle Shaw Jr. was sent to hospice care at a West Seattle nursing home, and four days later, he died, weighing just 108 pounds at five-feet-seven, according to the court documents – 43 pounds less than he had weighed at a health-care appointment two and a half years earlier. Weight loss and muscular atrophy were listed as among the causes of Kyle Shaw Jr.’s death, but

20 Replies to "West Seattle Crime Watch: Sons charged with mistreating elderly father"

  • SillyGoose November 16, 2012 (3:50 pm)

    This just makes me sick, I hope these family members rot in hell!

  • Diane November 16, 2012 (3:57 pm)

    horrible, horrible, horrible, so sad, infuriating; my dad is 86; this makes me want to scream; I would do anything to take care of my dad

  • Krm66 November 16, 2012 (4:09 pm)

    Very sad anyone could treat another human this way, especially parents who raised you.

  • kayo November 16, 2012 (4:13 pm)

    Sickening. That poor man.

  • Me November 16, 2012 (4:24 pm)

    What happened to their mother? Hopefully she’s doing well. Interestingly, my mother was living independently in that general area at the time and as Power of Attorney when I saw the condition she was in, I had to take her to Mt. St. Vincent for a couple of weeks so she recover enough to go to assisted living in the Merrill Gardens. Although she’s angry with me for this, she is in a much better place and I don’t care if I get a cent when she goes. She earned everything she has and if it’s all spent, that’s fine with me.

    • WSB November 16, 2012 (4:41 pm)

      Me, the court documents mention only, in passing, that there was a subsequent “guardianship proceeding” for her. However, searching the Web, and finding a very short obituary with a matching birthdate and name, it appears she died a few months later, in February 2011. – TR

  • atigus November 16, 2012 (4:58 pm)

    This just makes me sick!
    How can anyone treat someone let alone your own Parent that way?!
    Myself and my husband took care of my Dad (3 yrs.) up until he passed away at our home he was 93 and I know it’s not easy to take care of someone in that stage of their life but its the right thing to do, they loved and took care of you when you were a child, right. And if you’re not able to that’s why there’s facilities that do.

  • AN November 16, 2012 (5:15 pm)

    @ Me, According to the Komo 4 story the mother died of a heart attack in 2011 and was treated no better then the father was.

  • sbre November 16, 2012 (6:04 pm)

    This story had me crying before finishing it, DAMN those four!!!!

  • G November 16, 2012 (6:39 pm)

    Please be a different West Seattle Ken Shaw than the one I’m thinking of.

  • Ajax November 16, 2012 (7:30 pm)

    Please, please let ALL of this man’s children who were involved go to jail over this. They were too stupid to even lie to the police; what the parents couldn’t do to their scumbag kids, the judge/jury should. I say this as someone who cares for an elderly parent with dementia. I just want to do unspeakable things to these people who tortured their Dad.

  • G November 16, 2012 (7:33 pm)

    Sadly, my fears were confirmed. I’ll leave it at that.

  • WTF November 16, 2012 (8:05 pm)

    I pray that the courts see what degradation these two PsOS are and that they will actually be sent to prison…hoping they will make new “friends” who will find out what they did to their elderly parent. Jailhouse justice for (beings) like this is so much better than anything a court could hand down.
    Freed, these AHs WILL commit more crimes.

  • G November 16, 2012 (8:20 pm)

    Sorry, but I am upset. How could someone devote so much loving energy to a park – Schmitz Preserve – and be so indifferent to the suffering of another human being?

  • tricia November 16, 2012 (9:11 pm)

    This story is so very very sad.Hopefully these too will never get out of jail. My prayers are for the mom. God bless her.

  • visitor November 16, 2012 (11:46 pm)

    Family dysfunction. Diminished capacities need to be considered. It’s very very sad, and horrible for the father, horrible for the mother, and horrible for the boys (men). Much of this story is hidden. Such a tragic end for Kyle and Ruth, who did many good things in their lives.

  • G November 17, 2012 (1:15 am)

    visitor,

    I suspect you are right, and you may know about the circumstances than we do.

  • Strike em out Kinney November 17, 2012 (12:01 pm)

    My dad is suffering from dementia, Parkinsons disease,a failing heart and is bedridden. My family members and I are with him giving him the best care we can muster. His grandkids entertain him, while I’m at work, we keep him clean and turn him sideways every few hours to prevent bed sores. When the day comes that he goes, my greatest satisfaction in life is the fact that we were there for him till the very end, just like he was there for us while we were growing up.

  • K S L November 20, 2012 (3:57 pm)

    Are you KIDDING me?!!!???!! Second-degree Criminal Mistreatment, that’s IT?….It was MURDER-BY-NEGLECT…PERIOD!…I want Sr. Dep. Prosecutor Page Ulrey to take these miserable, stinking pieces of garbage to the Mat, with SERIOUS jail time, fines, loss of ALL property, Civil Rights, ALL the law allows. AND THE JUDGE, no plea-bargain, deals, NOTHING, ONLY THE MAXIMUM POSSIBLE SENTENCE…Can you say”ROT” in prison?

  • Livid November 25, 2012 (1:55 pm)

    PLEASE(!) e-mail Sr. Deputy Prosecutor Page Ulrey, encourage her to absolutely, positively NOT, NOT, NOT accept ANY plea bargain deal offered , PERIOD!..And same for the JUDGE who will hear the case. Ask, too, that they MAKE AN EXAMPLE of these two, with MAXIMUM prison time, confiscation of ALL assets (cash, property, CD’s, EVERYTHING. Use the money to fund current and future elder care programs. Lastly, ask the court to UP the charge to a level which ACTUALLY defines what these brothers did, and almost got away with. At the end of the day, it was MURDER-BY-NEGLECT, plain and simple. We who have known these two for years are sickened and disgusted by their coverup of this heinous crime, for their own financial gain(read the interviews). Unbelievable.

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