WARREN — The family of a 41-year-old man with developmental disabilities has filed a lawsuit alleging that neglect at a group home and related facilities led to his death from severe constipation complications.

The claims were detailed in a wrongful death lawsuit of James William Stewart filed by the family’s attorney, Michael Hill, in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court. The plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial before Judge Cynthia Westcott Rice.

The complaint brings four claims against Clear Skies Ahead, Fairhaven Industries Inc., Dr. Thomas Scheidemantel and University Hospitals Medical Group, including negligence, medical negligence, wrongful death and violations of residents. It seeks a total of $100,000. Neither Clear Skies Ahead nor Fairhaven Industries responded to requests for comment.

The suit states Stewart, who had autism spectrum disorder, bipolar disorder and schizoaffective disorder, died Nov. 15, 2024, after what the complaint described as weeks of untreated abdominal pain and constipation.

It alleges that staff at Clear Skies Ahead in Bazetta and at Fairhaven Industries in Champion, where Stewart worked and attended day programs, failed to monitor his condition or seek medical help.

According to the complaint, Stewart lived at Clear Skies Ahead for nearly nine years.

He needed help with daily tasks, including taking medications that could cause constipation. The complaint states the facility knew about his history of severe constipation, which led to rectal bleeding in the past.

Attorneys for Stewart included a copy of an Oct. 18, 2018, doctor’s record in the lawsuit that showed an excerpt from a doctor visit noting “rectal bleeding and drug-induced constipation” as the reason for the visit.

The lawsuit claims Clear Skies Ahead and Fairhaven Industries received taxpayer funds through the Trumbull County Board of Developmental Disabilities to provide care, including “monitoring (James) for signs and symptoms of illness or injury” like developing severe constipation.

The suit alleges the facilities did not have a system to track residents’ bowel movements and that Stewart had not had a bowel movement for several weeks to as long as a month in October and November 2024.

For several days before his death, the complaint states, Stewart complained of abdominal pain and was not acting like himself. Normally “a happy and active person” who worked outside the home and kept ties with family and friends he became despondent and low energy. He also had a visible long, rectangular bruise across his abdomen, described in the suit as a “light purple shade.”

On Nov. 14, 2024, Stewart had a telepsych visit with Dr. Scheidemantal, a psychiatrist with University Hospitals Medical Group.

The suit states the group home manager from Clear Skies Ahead and an employee from Fairhaven Industries were present for the visit. The complaint states that Dr. Scheidemantal noted Stewart had no “acute or significant health problems over the past few months,” “no other side effects today,” and a “negative” gastrointestinal exam.

The lawsuit alleges neither person who sat in on Stewart’s visit corrected the doctor or mentioned Stewart’s pain and constipation. This went against Stewart’s “Individual Support Plan,” which required monitoring for such issues, according to the complaint.

The next day, Nov. 15, the complaint states Stewart went to work at Fairhaven Industries in Champion and returned to the group home around 2:30 p.m. when he told a staff member he felt unwell and had abdominal pain. The complaint states the staff member told him to “sit on the toilet,” but the complaint states Stewart could not have a bowel movement. He then went to lie down in his room around 4:40 p.m.

The suit claims no one notified Stewart’s doctor or family about his condition.

Around 5:20 p.m., Clear Skies staff found Stewart unresponsive, not breathing and without a pulse, so they called 911.

The complaint states responders from the Bazetta Fire Department noted a discolored line across his abdomen, which was swollen and rigid.

Emergency workers started chest compressions and Stewart was taken to St. Joseph Warren Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:32 p.m.

The Trumbull County Coroner’s office investigated and performed an autopsy.

Forensic pathologist, Dr. George Sterbenz determined the cause as “severe gastrointestinal gaseous distension with tension pneumoperitoneum, due to obstructive fecaloma with massive fecal impaction.”

The suit includes a photo of the autopsy report, which the attorneys says shows the impacted feces weighed more than 20 pounds and damaged Stewart’s internal organs.

The family states Stewart depended on the facilities for care because of his disabilities. The complaint lists violations of residents’ rights, including the right to be treated with “courtesy and respect,” to receive services in a “clean, safe, comfortable” environment, and to “reasonable protection from physical, sexual and emotional abuse, neglect and exploitation.”