State police said the 89-year-old woman had lived for months without heat or running water.

CARLISLE, N.Y. — A 64-year-old Schoharie County man has been charged in the death of his mother after state police said she was found dead last year in a shed where she had been living without heat or running water.

Joseph Polizzi, of Carlisle, was arrested April 16 and charged with criminally negligent homicide and first-degree endangering the welfare of a vulnerable elderly person. The charges came nearly 14 months after troopers found Nancy Polizzi, 89, dead on a property on Polizzi Road. State police said Joseph Polizzi lived in a residence on the same property and was his mother’s primary caretaker.

Troopers from the State Police barracks in Princetown first went to the Carlisle property on Feb. 23, 2025, after a report of an unattended death. When they arrived, they found Nancy Polizzi dead inside a shed on the property, police said. Investigators later determined she had been living there since August 2024. The shed had no heat and no running water, according to police. State police said in their release that the death investigation later showed Joseph Polizzi was responsible for his mother’s care as her health failed. The case moved from an unattended death call to a homicide investigation after medical findings and interviews, police said.

On Feb. 24, 2025, Dr. Bernard Ng performed an autopsy at Ellis Hospital in Schenectady. Police said Ng ruled Nancy Polizzi’s death a homicide and found that she died from sepsis caused by untreated gangrenous decubitus ulceration, commonly known as bedsores. The medical finding became a central part of the case because investigators said the wounds were untreated and that Nancy Polizzi needed medical care before her death. Police said she could not walk, feed herself or speak in the weeks before she died. Authorities have not said in public records how often anyone checked on her, whether she had other medical conditions or whether outside caregivers had been involved.

The arrest was announced April 17, one day after Joseph Polizzi was taken into custody. State police said he was arrested by the Princetown barracks and sent to the Schoharie County Correctional Facility. The charges are felonies under New York law. First-degree endangering the welfare of a vulnerable elderly person is a class D felony, while criminally negligent homicide is a class E felony. Police said Joseph Polizzi failed to provide his mother with adequate medical care or seek needed treatment, and that the failure reportedly led to her death. The word “reportedly” in the police account leaves room for the allegations to be tested in court.

The property is in Carlisle, a rural town in Schoharie County west of Albany. Police identified the location as a property on Polizzi Road, tying the scene to the family name. The shed, according to investigators, was not a heated living space and did not have running water. Nancy Polizzi’s months there stretched from late summer into winter, including the coldest part of the year in upstate New York. Authorities have not described the size of the shed, whether it had electricity, what bedding was inside or whether food or drinking water was found nearby. Those details may become important if prosecutors present the case in court.

The timeline laid out by police begins in August 2024, when investigators said Nancy Polizzi began living in the shed. It then jumps to Feb. 23, 2025, when troopers responded to the unattended death report and found her body. The next day, the autopsy was completed. More than a year passed before the April 16, 2026, arrest. Police have not publicly explained the length of the investigation, but cases involving alleged neglect often depend on medical records, autopsy findings, interviews and proof of who had a legal or practical duty to provide care. In this case, police said Joseph Polizzi was his mother’s son and primary caretaker.

The charges do not accuse Joseph Polizzi of intentionally killing Nancy Polizzi. Criminally negligent homicide alleges a death caused by criminal negligence, a lower mental state than intentional murder. The endangerment count focuses on the alleged failure to care for a vulnerable elderly person, an incompetent person or a physically disabled person. State police said Nancy Polizzi fit that vulnerable category because she was unable to walk, feed herself or speak in the weeks before her death. Prosecutors would still have to prove each element of the charges. Joseph Polizzi is presumed innocent unless he is convicted in court.

After his arrest, Joseph Polizzi was arraigned in Schoharie County Centralized Arraignment Court. He was remanded to the Schoharie County Correctional Facility in lieu of $5,000 cash bail, $10,000 bond or a $50,000 partially secured bond. The bail amounts mean he could remain jailed unless he posts one of the approved forms of release. Court records cited by police did not list a future hearing date in the public release. It was also not immediately clear from the police statement whether he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

The case is built largely on the contrast between where police said Nancy Polizzi was living and where they said her son lived. Investigators said Joseph Polizzi resided in a home on the same property while his mother stayed in the shed nearby. That detail is likely to shape the prosecution’s argument because the state must show not only that Nancy Polizzi was vulnerable, but that Joseph Polizzi had a duty to act and did not meet it. Police said the mother and son were connected by both family and care responsibilities. The defense may challenge the extent of that duty, the medical timeline or what Joseph Polizzi knew about his mother’s condition.

The autopsy language points to a death that police believe developed over time. Decubitus ulcers are pressure wounds that can occur when a person remains in one position for long periods. Police said the wounds were gangrenous and untreated, and that sepsis followed. Sepsis is a bodywide response to infection that can become fatal. The police account does not say whether Nancy Polizzi was ever taken to a doctor after August 2024 or whether any emergency call was made before the day troopers found her dead. Those unanswered points remain part of the public gap between the arrest announcement and any full court record.

Local coverage of the arrest drew attention to the length of time between the death and the charges. The police release describes an investigation that continued after the autopsy and ended with an arrest more than a year later. In elder neglect cases, that kind of delay can reflect the need to gather medical opinions, confirm the nature of the caregiving relationship and decide whether the facts support criminal charges rather than only civil or family concerns. The public information released so far does not include statements from relatives, neighbors, emergency workers or town officials.

The case now moves through Schoharie County court, where prosecutors can present evidence and Joseph Polizzi can answer the charges. State police said the arrest followed their elder death investigation, but they did not announce any additional suspects. As of May 9, 2026, the public record leaves the next major step to the court schedule.

Author note: Last updated May 9, 2026.