Numerous defendants in the Carl DeBrodie wrongful death lawsuit have filed motions to dismiss, according to court records.
Attorneys for Callaway County, Public Administrator Karen Digh Allen and her office, and a number of defendants associated with the Missouri Department of Mental Health requested March 30 that the court dismiss the civil suit filed in January on behalf of DeBrodie's mother and aunt.
Two separate motions to dismiss state the complaint "fail(s) to state a claim upon which relief can be granted." Both also state the plaintiffs don't have sufficient facts to support certain claims.
DeBrodie, 31, was initially reported missing April 17, 2017. The developmentally disabled man lived at a supported living facility managed at that time by Second Chance Homes of Fulton. On April 24, police found his decomposed body wrapped in plastic and encased in concrete in a Fulton storage unit.
The civil suit names a long list of defendants including Callaway County and includes counts of wrongful death, negligence and civil rights violations, among others. It questions how DeBrodie's death and delayed discovery could have come to pass.
"I feel, to try to get to the bottom of this, I need to file the lawsuit and get these people under oath and find out what really happened," attorney Rudy Veit said in late January. Veit filed the civil suit for the plaintiffs.
The motions to dismiss zero in on that lack of certainty.
The motion filed by Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley on behalf of the state defendants points out the suit says DeBrodie died of an unknown cause, which is "at least as likely to be the result of natural causes or intentional conduct" as the result of negligence.
Without knowing the cause of death, he stated, the plaintiffs don't have enough facts to conclude the state defendants are a "proximate cause of death" for DeBrodie.
The motion filed by attorneys Ross Bridges and Sarah Crawford on behalf of the Callaway County defendants brings up a similar point.
"Most importantly, Plaintiffs do not know how or why Carl died, when he died, how he died, or who was responsible for his death or the disposal of his remains," Bridges and Crawford state. "Without that knowledge, Plaintiffs cannot arbitrarily reach the conclusion that Defendants Allen, Callaway County, and the Public Administrator are liable."
The Hawley motion states, as DeBrodie was under the care of Second Chance Homes, a private company, the state defendants cannot be held responsible for occurrences at Second Chance. It also claims state agencies and state agency defendants have "sovereign immunity" from state law claims.
Veit could not be reached for comment Monday.
Documents pertaining to the civil suit can be viewed through Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER).