Trenton brothers cleared of murdering mother who died from rare disease

TRENTON, Mich. (FOX 2) - Two brothers were accused of killing their mother as prosecutors claimed she was murdered.
    
But in truth, she died from a rare disease and now the Michigan Supreme Court has dismissed the case - giving the Balogh brothers the justice they deserve.

"When he told me the outcome I instantly started crying, I was so happy, and so emotional," said Grant.

Grant and Gabe Balogh found out they won't be charged with the murder of their mother Vicki, who suffered from a rare genetic wasting disease called ataxia.

She was just 52 when the disease that slowly destroys the nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord took her life. It is the same degenerative disease that killed her mother, three brothers, and five uncles.

Gabe,  who also suffers from ataxia, didn't want to be interviewed because of his worsening symptoms.

"The disease itself, ruins your life, so to have something else ruin your life too, is pretty horrible," Grant said.

Vicki Balogh

And it almost did. Instead of institutionalizing their mother when her symptoms progressed, they followed their mother's dying wish and cared for her inside her Trenton home.

But when she died in 2016, an investigation or, according to the Baloghs' attornies, the lack thereof, led to the Wayne County Prosecutor charging them with adult abuse and murder one year later.

The lower court dismissed the case, but Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy pursued the criminal charges taking it all the way to the Michigan Court of Appeals.

"I was a blatant overreach on the part of the state to charge her sons with first-degree murder for abiding by her wishes, and trying to take care of her the best they could," said Attorney Kevin Simowski.

Simowski and the Flood law team have helped fight this battle for the brothers over the last four years.

They just learned, in a rare move, the Michigan Supreme Court has reversed the appellate court's decision and re-instated the order of the 33rd District Court - which initially dismissed the case. 

Grant and Gabe Balogh were wrongly charged for their mother's death, when it was her disease that killed her.

The judge pointed to the progressive nature of the disease and their mother's capacity to make her own medical decisions.

"They pointed out what we've tried to point out for a long time, that the Balogh brothers did nothing more than try to take care of their mother - and it was her wishes," Simowski said.

RELATED: Trenton men who cared for mother with rare disease - now charged with her murder

Wayne County Prosecutor Worthy responded in a statement:  

"I disagree with the ruling in this case.  The Michigan Supreme Court filed a terse order without an opinion in this matter. 

"It is our position that MSC acted in error, correcting the Michigan Court of Appeals because that is not their role. The court of appeals correctly found that once the district court determined that a question of fact existed, the case should have been bound over to the trial court. 

"In reversing, the court made their own determination of the sufficiency of the evidence. We will not be appealing this further, but this case represents a disturbing instance of MSC inserting itself, in a clear question of fact."

Grant and Gabe Balogh with their mother Vicki, who suffered from the rare disease ataxia, which they now have.

The Balogh brothers may have won the battle, but are still fighting the war against the debilitating disease.

Grant, who planned to care for his brother Gabe just as they did for their mother, was also recently diagnosed with ataxia.

 "That was the plan and then I found out it is going to happen to me too," he said. "I'm trying to figure out what we should totally do."

"Obviously we have seen it our entire lives, so you just kind of accept it. If you don't, you'll be super depressed all the time."

Grant says they need to find someone to care for them now. But one thing they will make sure to do is to make it clear, in writing, how they want to be cared for, so this doesn't happen to someone else.