An autopsy found sepsis from untreated bedsores after Nancy Polizzi was found dead.
CARLISLE, N.Y. — An autopsy ruling that a 89-year-old woman died from sepsis tied to untreated bedsores led state police to charge her son in a Schoharie County elder neglect case more than a year later.
Nancy Polizzi was found dead Feb. 23, 2025, in a shed on a Carlisle property where investigators said she had been living since August 2024. State police said the shed had no heat or running water. Her son, Joseph Polizzi, 64, was arrested April 16, 2026, and charged with criminally negligent homicide and first-degree endangering the welfare of a vulnerable elderly person.
The case centers first on the medical conclusion. Dr. Bernard Ng conducted the autopsy at Ellis Hospital in Schenectady on Feb. 24, 2025, one day after troopers found Nancy Polizzi’s body. State police said Ng ruled the manner of death a homicide and listed the cause as sepsis from untreated gangrenous decubitus ulceration, a medical term for severe bedsores. That finding moved the investigation beyond the discovery of an unattended body. It gave police a stated cause of death, a manner of death and a basis to examine whether neglect by a caregiver had led to a fatal infection.
State police said Nancy Polizzi was unable to walk, feed herself or speak in the weeks before her death. Those claims are central because they describe a woman who could not meet basic needs without help. Investigators said Joseph Polizzi was her son and primary caretaker, and that he lived in a residence on the same property where she was found. Police said he allegedly did not provide adequate medical care or seek needed treatment. The public release did not say whether Nancy Polizzi had a formal care plan, whether any health agency had contact with the family or whether any prior welfare checks were made.
The words used by police describe a long decline rather than a sudden death. They said Nancy Polizzi had been living in the shed for about six months before troopers responded to the property on Polizzi Road. During part of that time, the area moved from summer into an upstate winter. Police did not describe the shed as a legal dwelling or say it had any utility connection beyond noting the absence of heat and running water. They also did not say how Nancy Polizzi received food, water, bedding or medical supplies while she was there. Those details remain unknown in the public account.
Joseph Polizzi’s charges reflect two different parts of the allegation. Criminally negligent homicide addresses the death itself and whether criminal negligence caused it. First-degree endangering the welfare of a vulnerable elderly person addresses the alleged treatment of Nancy Polizzi before she died. State police said the endangerment charge is a class D felony. The homicide charge is a class E felony. Neither charge requires the state to prove that Joseph Polizzi intended for his mother to die, but prosecutors would have to prove that his conduct met the criminal standards set by law.
The arrest did not come quickly. Troopers found Nancy Polizzi’s body in February 2025. Joseph Polizzi was arrested in April 2026. Between those dates, investigators had to connect the medical findings to the care Nancy Polizzi was or was not receiving. Police said they learned Joseph Polizzi was her primary caretaker because she could not care for herself in the weeks before her death. The release does not name other witnesses or describe what interviews were completed. It also does not say whether investigators reviewed bank records, medical records, emergency call logs, property records or other documents before filing the charges.
On the day troopers first arrived, the case began as a report of an unattended death. That phrase often means a person was found dead without a doctor or medical worker present to certify an expected death. It does not by itself mean a crime occurred. The autopsy changed the case. A homicide ruling by a medical examiner or doctor means death resulted from the act or omission of another person, though it does not decide guilt in court. In this case, police later alleged that the omission was the failure to provide medical care or seek treatment for a vulnerable elderly woman.
The location adds another layer to the case. Carlisle is a small town in Schoharie County, a rural area west of Albany where homes and outbuildings can sit on the same property. State police said Joseph Polizzi lived in a home on the property while Nancy Polizzi lived in the shed. That detail may be important because it places the alleged caregiver near the place where police said his mother was declining. The police release did not say how many feet separated the home and shed, whether the shed was visible from the home or whether anyone else lived at the property.
After the April 16 arrest, Joseph Polizzi was arraigned in Schoharie County Centralized Arraignment Court. He was sent to the Schoharie County Correctional Facility with bail set at $5,000 cash, $10,000 bond or a $50,000 partially secured bond. The public announcement did not include a plea, a defense statement or a next court date. It also did not list the prosecutor assigned to the case. As with all criminal defendants, Joseph Polizzi is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The case also shows how elder death investigations can depend on medical language that becomes legal evidence. Bedsores can develop when an immobile person is not moved, cleaned or treated often enough. When they become infected, the danger can spread beyond the skin. Police said Nancy Polizzi’s bedsores were gangrenous and untreated, and that sepsis resulted. The state would likely need medical testimony to explain how long the wounds existed, what care would have been needed and how the lack of treatment contributed to death. The defense may seek its own medical review or challenge the timing of the infection.
The public record is spare on Nancy Polizzi’s life before the shed. Police identified her by name and age, but the arrest announcement does not say where she lived before August 2024, whether she had other relatives or how her care shifted to her son. It does not include a statement from the family. It also does not say whether neighbors reported concerns, whether anyone saw her in the months before her death or whether social services had been contacted. Those unknowns do not change the charges, but they mark the difference between the police summary and the fuller story that may come out in court.
The next stage belongs to the court process in Schoharie County. Prosecutors will have to show why the autopsy, the shed conditions and the caregiving relationship support the two felony counts. Joseph Polizzi will have a chance to contest the allegations, challenge evidence and seek release under the bail terms or later court orders. State police have not announced further arrests in Nancy Polizzi’s death.
Author note: Last updated May 9, 2026.