{"id":2933,"date":"2026-07-02T09:34:58","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T09:34:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2933"},"modified":"2026-07-02T09:34:58","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T09:34:58","slug":"mesa-father-accused-of-leaving-disabled-son-in-tub-for-weeks-family-says-he-refused-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2933","title":{"rendered":"Mesa father accused of leaving disabled son in tub for weeks; family says he refused help"},"content":{"rendered":"
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MESA, AZ (AZFamily)<\/b> \u2014 A Mesa man is accused of leaving his disabled adult son in a bathtub for weeks. The victim was described in court documents as \u201cextremely emaciated\u201d and found with severe wounds.<\/p>\n

Read more Mother and father charged after 3 children left alone in cockroach-infested home during fire, authorities say<\/a><\/p>\n

Melvin Shimkus, 52, was booked on one count of vulnerable adult abuse and is being held on a $12,000 bond.<\/p>\n

Warning: Details of this story may be graphic. Reader discretion is advised.<\/i><\/p>\n

What officers found<\/h2>\n

Shortly before 10 p.m. Monday, Mesa officers were called to a home near Gilbert Road and Pueblo Avenue, north of Southern Avenue, after a 911 caller reported that Hunter Shimkus, 31, had been in a bathtub for seven weeks and was covered in feces.<\/p>\n

Officers entered the bathroom and were met with a \u201cstrong, pungent odor\u201d resembling \u201crotting meat and feces,\u201d according to court documents. Inside the tub, they found Hunter appearing \u201cextremely emaciated.\u201d Small ropes were holding his right leg, and his right foot was \u201cextremely deformed,\u201d police said.<\/p>\n

Court documents state Hunter\u2019s right knee was bent at a 90-degree angle in the opposite direction, his muscles appeared to be gone, and he had open sores throughout his body.<\/p>\n

Court documents also state Hunter had a nerve disease that prevented him from walking and limited the use of his hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe clearly suffered from severe, severe neglect,\u201d an investigator said. \u201cThe neglect was extreme that it caused significant, possible permanent injuries to the victim.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Shimkus told police<\/h2>\n

Shimkus told police that Hunter was his son, whom he had been caring for over the past year. He said he had placed Hunter in the tub a week earlier and, when he checked on him that day, found one of his legs bent in the opposite direction. Shimkus said he offered to take Hunter to the hospital, but Hunter refused multiple times, according to court documents.<\/p>\n

Police say Shimkus was the only person caring for Hunter, though the two had been living at the home with two other family members. Court documents state Shimkus told those family members that Hunter\u2019s leg was bent the wrong way and that he could smell feces coming from the bathroom.<\/p>\n

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What family members said<\/h2>\n

A family member told police Hunter had been in the tub since May 16 \u2014 the last time authorities were called to the home. At that time, court documents state Hunter refused medical attention and had not left the tub since.<\/p>\n

Hunter\u2019s aunt, Carol Scofield, who also lived at the home, said the family repeatedly tried to get Hunter medical care but that he refused.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything was done that we could do,\u201d Scofield said.<\/p>\n

Scofield said Hunter suffers from a nerve disease and that for months family members tried to convince him to go to the hospital, but he refused.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone tried to convince Hunter to go to the hospital. Hunter said no. When the paramedics came, he said no. They turned around and walked off, said we can\u2019t touch him. He\u2019s an adult,\u201d Scofield said.<\/p>\n

Scofield said Hunter insisted he did not want to leave the tub and maintained that his father was caring for him. She said she believes Shimkus was wrongfully arrested.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I do. Honest to God, I do,\u201d Scofield said.<\/p>\n

Hunter was hospitalized. His current condition is unknown.<\/p>\n

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? <\/i>Please click here to report it<\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\n

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send <\/i>it to us here<\/i> with a brief description.<\/i><\/p>\n

Read more Phoenix brothers\u2019 firefighter dreams stalled after EMT school fails to forward records<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Mesa father is accused of leaving his disabled adult son in the bathtub for weeks, who was described as \u201cextremely emaciated\u201d and with severe wounds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2932,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nMesa father accused of leaving disabled son in tub for weeks; family says he refused help - Tucson Moving Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2933\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mesa father accused of leaving disabled son in tub for weeks; 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