Teen dies at St. Charles County jail. Mom says he didn't get his meds.

Mar. 8—ST. CHARLES — A 17-year-old boy found dead at St. Charles County's juvenile detention center this week went nearly two weeks without the medications he needed to treat his epilepsy and other health conditions, his mother said.

Peggy Davis said her son, Romeo Calhoun, did not receive medication for his ADHD, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia while in detention. Romeo ended up there after he was accused of assaulting people at CenterPointe Hospital, a psychiatric facility in Weldon Spring, Davis said.

But neither juvenile courts officials nor CenterPointe have explained the allegations against him, Davis said. And she hasn't found out why, between the two facilities, Romeo wasn't given necessary medications.

"I'm completely lost," said Davis, of St. Louis. "No one had information for me."

An operator who answered phone calls to CenterPointe Friday referred questions to an administrator. That administrator did not return requests for comment.

St. Charles County Presiding Judge Chris McDonough declined an interview and did not answer emailed questions Friday about the facility's procedures for medical care for juveniles in its custody.

In a press conference Thursday evening, McDonough said Calhoun had died in his sleep and St. Charles County Police are investigating. He said there was no evidence to suggest foul play.

"This is a tragedy," McDonough said. "We're going to get to the bottom of it."

Calhoun was discovered at 7:45 a.m. Thursday, when facility staff started to wake detainees up. McDonough said staff followed protocol the night before and checked beds every 15 minutes. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

On Wednesday, according to McDonough, Calhoun played basketball and ate dinner. By all indications, everything was fine, he said.

In an interview Friday, Davis she wasn't notified of her son's death until more than two hours later. By then her son's body had been transported to the morgue for an autopsy. She had yet to see her son's body despite multiple attempts to do so.

Romeo, who lived in St. Louis with his mom and two younger siblings, had faced mental illnesses all his life and had been in and out of the juvenile system, including previous stays at group homes and psychiatric hospitals, Davis said.

He was diagnosed with epilepsy in 2021 after beginning to experience seizures, and was prescribed a twice-daily medication to treat his symptoms. He also saw a psychiatrist on a biweekly basis, Davis said.

Romeo was in state custody from 2021 through October, when he was released to live at home with Davis. After a mental break Feb. 18, he ran away from home to a hospital, where he expressed suicidal thoughts and tried to harm himself, Davis said.

That hospital kept Romeo for two days before transferring him to the next available psychiatric bed, at CenterPointe, Davis said. Romeo was there for about three days when she got a call that he was being taken into juvenile custody under allegations he assaulted people.

Davis said Romeo told her over the phone that he had slapped another patient's behind and then hit that person in the face. But the court, Romeo's public defender and the hospital have not provided information about the five charges of assault against him, Davis said.

Days after Romeo was admitted to the detention center, Davis said, an officer told her that he had been trying to get medications for Romeo but CenterPointe had refused to release medications to him. But CenterPointe denied that, Davis said.

Davis said that on Tuesday, a CenterPointe nurse said she would send Romeo's medication orders to a pharmacy — but when Davis went to get the prescriptions Wednesday, there weren't any, she said. Davis called the juvenile officer, who told her to give it more time, she said.

Romeo died the next day. Neither CenterPointe nor the juvenile officer have returned Davis's calls, she said.

"I never expected to bury my child at 17 years old," Davis said. "I had plans for him, a better life."

Romeo often talked about being a protector to his younger brother, 16, and sister, 13, Davis said. He helped his mom with chores.

And he dreamed of becoming a rapper and entertainer, calling himself "Rich Romeo," Davis said. He spent much of his free time watching YouTube videos or listening to music, and talked about moving to California to pursue a career.

"He was really excited about that," Davis said. "He wanted to entertain people."

Her son, who was over 6 feet tall and weighed 300 pounds, was probably viewed as a threat to some, Davis said.

But "he still deserves to be treated as an equal, no matter what is going on with him."

"He's been held accountable for something that he probably didn't quite understand," Davis said.

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