Rhonda Williams lost one son this week from a stunning tragedy within her own home. What’s worse is the man who took her son’s life was her other son, a son whom she’s been seeking help for years to no avail.
“I was just told there's nothing they could do,” said a tearful Williams Friday afternoon.
It was shortly after 8:30 A.M. Wednesday when her son, Lawrence Barr, shot and killed his older brother, Aaron Elmore. Elmore was in the bathroom brushing his teeth with his two-year-old son when he was shot.
Rhonda Williams with her son, Aaron Elmore.
“I heard the gunshot and that's when I came out into the hallway and my son was slumped to the floor,” said Williams. "And he was like 'mom it was an accident. ... it was an accident"
According to Lee’s Summit Police documents, Lawrence was “playing” with a gun and “didn’t realize there was a round in the chamber.” The documents also say that Barr left the house in a car, throwing his gun out of the window on the highway, before returning back to the Lee’s Summit home.
Barr was charged with involuntary manslaughter Thursday. Williams blames her son’s mental illness.
"When he was talking it was like someone else was talking, not him,” said Williams. "He felt everybody was trying to come up against him, and that's the schizophrenic ... the paranoia."
She said Barr was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia at age 17. The mother says Barr was immediately placed in Two Rivers Psychiatric Hospital for treatment. However, it was just roughly two weeks later Barr turned 18, an age he could legally reject treatment and medication.
"I tried to get him help. I've tried several times and they could only tell me there's nothing they can do if he doesn't agree to come in himself,” said Williams.
She said her hands were tied, even though she was the primary caregiver and insurance holder.
"The person that is bearing the insurance should be able to know what's going on to the people that are attached to that plan,” said Rich Stanford, a cousin.
Williams said Barr, who was also trying to recover from complications from several hernia surgeries, sought some mental health help recently, but even then his resources were limited. 41 Action News looked into local resources and found shocking numbers regarding the lack of mental healthcare services being offered.
Rhonda Williams and Lawrence Barr.
"When it comes to people who are at acute risk and are needing in-patient services, there is an absolute shortage across the metropolitan area of psychiatric beds. Bottom line, there's a shortage,” said Tim Deweese, director of mental health services of Johnson County.
Deweese said that although Johnson County continues to be an exception, receiving ample mental healthcare funding, funding for the state of Kansas has declined for the last six to eight years. The lack of funds have resulted in long wait lists for mental health care.
"Specifically in Johnson County, we've reached an all-time high of 30 people on the waiting list ... three were in jail because that was the only place to put them and have them be safe. One was boarded in the ER, held in the ER until a state bed opened up,” said Deweese.
A 2014 report from the Mid-America Regional Council showed the average wait time for youth with mental illness was one to four months, and more than eight thousand youth were turned away from care completely. Jackson County records show that 2,900 people had psychotic disorders in the county in 2015.
Nationally, a Scripps News report revealed that mental health beds nationwide continue to drop dramatically. In 1970 there were more than 300,000 beds in the United States for the mentally ill. Today that number is less than 50,000. Also, 33 states have seen reductions over the last four years and nearly 90 percent of surveyed hospitals across the country refer mentally ill youth to other facilities because of lack of resources.
Angela Kimball, NAMI Director of Advocacy and Policy Runs, told Scripps national correspondent Ross Jones, "If we didn't have that kind of treatment that's needed for cancer we would be astonished and appalled. Not so for mental health.”
"This could have prevented if they had offered me some type of help for my son,” said Williams.
Friends and family have setup a memorial fund for Elmore. Click here to find out more.
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Josh Helmuth can be reached at josh.helmuth@kshb.com
