Man dies after fall, weeks without treatment

March 04, 2013 3:15 pm • By JONATHAN EDWARDS / Lincoln Journal Star

The 45-year-old Lincoln man, whose 10-year-old son cared for him for weeks after a crippling fall, died Sunday.
Bienvenu Asumani died two days after Lincoln Police Officer Cynthia Koenig-Warnke found him at his home in the 900 block of North 30th Street, incapacitated and unable to speak, according to a petition filed in Lancaster County Juvenile Court.

Hartley Elementary School Principal Jeff Rust called Lincoln police after not seeing the boy in school for four days, Koenig-Warnke said in a court affidavit.

The boy answered the door when Koenig-Warnke arrived Friday. She saw Asumani lying on a footstool inside.

The boy said his father fell and hit his head and body in mid-February, and he gave his dad food and fluids while he was incapacitated.

Asumani had his eyes open and was breathing, but he couldn't respond to questions, Koenig-Warnke stated in the court filing, which sought permission from a judge for the state Department of Health and Human Services to take custody of the boy.

The boy also said his father's bones were hurt and he had not moved or used the bathroom since the fall. Asumani was taken to Bryan West Campus Friday and died Sunday.

The boy told police his mother lives in Africa and that he has relatives in Arizona. Juvenile Judge Linda Porter ordered that he remain in state care for now.

People who want to help the boy can contact Health and Human Services employee Sherrie Spilde at 471-5138 or sherrie.spilde@nebraska.gov.