MURRAY – Less than a week after StepStone Family and Youth Services relocated its boys group home from a facility in town, on Back Street, to a home on Rockwood Road in the Elm Grove community, Calloway County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) deputies were called to respond to an attempted assault of an employee by one of the home’s residents. The juvenile fled on foot, resulting in a manhunt that lasted more than four hours and required assistance from Calloway County Fire-Rescue (CCFR) and Marshall County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO).  

At approximately 3 p.m. yesterday, CCSO deputies responded to a call from the home about an out-of-control 16-year-old male who attempted to stab one of the employees with a knife, according to a CCSO press release. When deputies arrived, the juvenile assaulted one of them before fleeing into a cornfield adjacent to the property.

In an interview this morning, Calloway County Sheriff Nicky Knight said that, when the first call came in, two on-duty deputies, two detectives, two supervisors and two off-duty deputies responded to the call. When the juvenile fled, around five CCFR volunteers responded with the agency’s drone. Knight said that he also called another individual, who assisted with his drone.

While two drones searched the cornfield, CCSO established a perimeter, according to the press release, and Calloway County E911 sent out an alert via Hyper Reach so that residents in the area were aware of the situation and could keep themselves safe while the suspect was at large. In an attempt to get the juvenile to come out of the field, CCSO expanded its perimeter approximately two hours later.

“We did what we could do and kind of backed out,” Knight explained. “We knew that he would resurface, but a lot of times, they’re not going to resurface until they think we’re gone. So, we pulled back a little bit.”

Around 7:30 p.m., the juvenile returned, and staff contacted CCSO. When deputies arrived, the juvenile fled again. Knight said that five CCSO units responded to the second call – three of whom came from home. CCFR was not called in to assist the second time; instead, Knight contacted the MCSO and asked them to assist with a K-9 unit.

“They actually sent two canines and the handlers, and that’s the time that we ended up catching him,” Knight said, adding, “That’s a lot of resources in one day.”

The K-9 units “flushed” the juvenile from the field, the release states. After a brief struggle, during which another deputy was assaulted, the juvenile was detained. None of the deputies required treatment for their minor injuries.

The juvenile was medically-cleared for minor injuries before being transported to the McCracken County Juvenile Detention Center where he is being held on charges of first-degree attempted assault, two counts of third-degree assault of a police officer, second-degree fleeing on foot, resisting arrest and third-degree criminal mischief.

About the incident, BrightSpring Health Services, StepStone’s parent company, provided the following statement earlier today:

“We are aware of a recent incident involving a resident at our StepStone home in Calloway County, KY, and are working in full cooperation with local authorities. We want to assure the community that we take all proper steps to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our foster children, our staff, and our neighbors. If any community members ever have questions about StepStone services, they are welcome to contact Joe Tanner at joe.tanner@stepstoneyouth.com.” 

StepStone is a for-profit company that, among other services, provides qualified residential treatment programs for children, ages 10-17, in the foster care system across nine states. It operates four group homes in the Purchase Area, including two in Murray – one for boys and one for girls.   

The company has been looking for suitable properties to relocate the boys home for well over a year, but their attempts were largely thwarted by blowback from neighbors. When StepStone held a public meeting in July last year about potentially relocating to a home in the Southwest Villa subdivision, approximately 70 neighborhood residents attended to voice their staunch opposition to the move. Within days, StepStone announced it was no longer considering relocating to that property.

Chris Hempfling, vice president of service excellence and stakeholder relations for BrightSpring, told The Sentinel at the time that “because of the comments and the pushback, we just didn’t feel that it was the right placement for our children.”

In October, StepStone held another public meeting about the Rockwood Road property. Around 40 residents from the Elm Grove and Faxon communities attended that meeting, and while emotions were high, it did not seem as contentious as the one in July.

Knight was among those in attendance at the October meeting. While most were concerned about safety, decreasing property values and theft, the sheriff offered a different perspective on the potential downfalls of relocating the home to the county – the strain on county resources.

“I think it’s best in the city where the city’s got plenty of units to deal with it,” Knight said at the meeting. “Coming into the county, I’ve got two units out. We get a runaway juvenile; yeah, we’re gonna look for them just like (we would any child). We’re gonna do our best, but I’ve got two units; other people in the county need my help, too. So, leave it in the city. We’ll be glad to help the city if we need to help the city because the city can’t come all the way out there to where you’re going to help us.”

Today, Knight said that what happened yesterday is exactly what he was talking about back in October.

“I’m already short-handed – I’m short four officers,” he added. “If I can find a decent officer, I would hire them. And we’re in the process – we’ve made some job offers and have some in school – but to go above and beyond that, I don’t have the funding.”

Knight acknowledged that many people who live in the area were locked down in their homes and scared, but he also noted that yesterday was not the only time CCSO has used E911 to alert residents.  

“We’ve had other people that we’ve been after and put out, ‘Hey, lock your doors, lock your cars,’” he said. “So, it’s not just isolated to this, but we know what we’ve got here. … If I lived in the neighborhood or if I had an elderly mother or father that lived in the neighborhood, then I would be worried for them. If I had young kids, I would be worried for them. I think the part that gets me is the workers just can’t handle them. We’re going to have stuff that’s going to happen, and I think it would be better in a community other than Calloway County.”

Knight said that representatives of StepStone met with him after the public meeting in October, and he told them, “’I don’t have any choice. We’ll give it a try because you’re going to do it. But the first time we have something,’ I said, ‘I will do everything I can to shut you down… on both places,’” referring to the girls facility StepStone operates on Robertson Road South.

“I’ve complained to everybody I know to complain to; and I’m still looking for somebody else to complain to, and I’m not done looking,” he said, adding that he wants the public to know his office is “doing the best we can to keep it contained, and I’m doing the best I can to get it shut down.”

Shanna Hodges lives next door to the property. She and her husband, Ronald, built the home and lived there with their children until they sold it in 2021 and began building their “forever home.”

When the incident occurred yesterday, Ronald was not home, so she and their 15-year-old daughter hunkered down in their home alone. Hodges, who passionately advocated for the needs of children in the foster care system at the October meeting, said that she had always felt secure in the knowledge that she could protect her children, “but last night, it felt different,” she said. “I’ve never worried about being in my kitchen, cooking dinner for my family and worrying that I needed to make sure the doors were locked.”

After the property was purchased in November, Leigh White, vice president of communications and PR for BrightSpring, told the Sentinel in an email that the company was confident in its decision to proceed with the purchase of the Rockwood Road property, noting the 3,245-square-foot home, which sits on a nearly five-acre lot, will provide the boys living in the home “plenty of space to participate in fun, engaging outdoor activities – like throwing the ball or learning how to garden – while still having space for independent living.”

When asked if StepStone had reached out to the adjacent property owners about the purchase, White said, “The surrounding community plays a large role in welcoming our youth and helping them feel safe, secure, and loved. The local community has been supportive of StepStone’s mission, and we’re excited to find new ways to partner with our new neighbors to ensure we continue to make a lasting, meaningful impact in the lives of the children we serve.  We’re working closely with local community leaders to ensure we have strong partnerships to best serve our children and meet their needs.”   

But according to Hodges, no one from StepStone has reached out to her, despite her leaving her contact information with the company’s representatives at the October meeting.

“I listened to all my junk voicemails and have checked my email to make sure that I didn’t miss anything. Nothing,” she said. “The yard had gotten really high, and we knew something was fixing to happen because they had bushhogged the yard. Then Saturday, we saw a moving truck and a bus full of kids.”

In October, StepStone Regional Director over Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and Tennessee Jeff Hardin told those at the meeting, “Where it works really well is that I’ve got your number; you’ve got mine; we know you; we know everybody around there; and we communicate regularly. And all of the neighbors know that if they see someone, they know they’ve got someone to call so they can say, ‘Hey, one of your boys is walking down the street.’”

“This was a little more than just a missing kid,” Knight said this morning. “This was a crime that had been committed, so this was more than a missing kid.”

Hodges said that she and her daughter made a decision to give the boys the benefit of the doubt and not prejudge them. “It was so heartbreaking last night when I got that text (about the incident),” she recalled, “and I said, ‘I really wanted to be wrong.’ And she said, ‘I did, too.’”

“I really truly believe that every kid – anybody – can change, and these kids, I don’t want to give up on them,” she added. “But I don’t want them 200 yards from my house, running through the corn.”

CCSO encourages anyone who witnesses any unusual or possible criminal activity to call the Sheriff’s Office at 270-753-3151 or email ccso.office@callkyso.com. Residents can sign up for Hyper Reach here.  

Individuals charged with crimes are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.