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ST. LOUIS — A man imprisoned at the downtown ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ jail was left without a wheelchair, was not given regular access to clean clothes or a shower and developed a hernia the size of a cantaloupe that went unaddressed for months, his family said in court Thursday.

Kevin O’Shaughnessy, 31, was shot multiple times by police in April and charged weeks later after police said he pointed a gun at officers, set his house on fire and threatened others while “having mental issues.� He was left partially paralyzed with with a traumatic brain injury, according to court documents.

On Thursday, his attorney asked a judge to release him on bond because the city’s troubled jail can’t care for his basic needs.

“It’s so inhumane and neglectful,� his sister, Caitlin O’Shaughnessy, said in court.

The accusations are the latest against the troubled City Justice Center, which has been rocked in recent years by a series of inmate deaths, including some that raised allegations of inadequate medical care.

City officials announced in November they had hired a new health care provider on a one-year contract, but complaints about the facility have continued. Two members of the jail’s citizen oversight board resigned last month claiming city officials obstructed them from properly investigating deaths and other complaints.

A spokesman for the city’s public safety department, Monte Chambers, declined to discuss Kevin O’Shaughnessy’s medical conditions in a statement, citing federal privacy laws. But Chambers said the city had taken “major steps� toward supporting detainees, in part by launching audits of medical care and working to hire a chief medical officer.

“The Corrections Division remains committed to ensuring the health of detainees remains a priority as we continue to improve service,� he said.

Kevin O’Shaughnessy had been struggling for months with mental health issues before the incident that ended in his arrest. His mother, Susan O’Shaughnessy, and sister said Thursday they regularly took him to appointments and called police for wellness checks when they thought he was in trouble.

At around 11:20 p.m. on April 17, police were called to a home in the 6800 block of Balson Avenue, south of Manchester Avenue, for a disturbance. O’Shaughnessy then barricaded himself inside the home, police said, and wouldn’t answer the phone when officers tried to get him to come out.

At around 2 a.m., O’Shaughnessy pointed a rifle at police through a broken window, police said. Officers shot him, and he was rushed into surgery after falling from the window.

He was eventually charged with six felonies and taken to the City Justice Center in June.

Since then, his sister said, it’s been a struggle to get the medical care he needs.

Late last summer, Caitlin and Susan O’Shaughnessy visited him in jail and they noticed a large hernia growing above his hip. His sister said she contacted jail officials, and at one point he was taken to Barnes Jewish Hospital for a brief visit. But the problem continued.

Months passed, and the hernia grew. Caitlin O’Shaughnessy said no one monitored her brother. And because of his mental health problems, he was unable to speak for himself. She kept contacting jail officials, but many of her inquiries went unanswered, she said.

Finally, in November, the hernia had grown bigger than a cantaloupe, she said. Her brother was taken to the hospital for surgery. He was forced to stay there for several days because of complications.

And even after he returned, his wheelchair was lost somewhere in transit and was never replaced, leaving a man with limited mobility struggling to get around, his sister said. He has fallen multiple times in recent weeks, she said.

On top of that, Caitlin O’Shaughnessy said her brother went weeks without showering and days without clean clothes. His wound dressings weren’t regularly changed in the jail’s infirmary, and he wasn’t given medications he had been prescribed, she wrote in emails to jail officials.

“My mother and I visited my brother Kevin O’Shaughnessy ... today and have some major concerns,� she wrote in an email Dec. 2. “This facility should be absolutely ashamed for their treatment towards those incarcerated there. Working in health care I can tell you I am absolutely disgusted!�

Last month, Kevin O’Shaughnessy’s public defender, Jordan Cohen, filed a motion to reduce his client’s bond. Cohen said the jail could not care for him and he’d be better off living with his family.

In court on Thursday, Caitlin O’Shaughnessy asked the judge to help her brother.

“Our family feels helpless,� she said. “Nobody listens to our pleas, and we believe no person should have to live like Kevin has been forced to do — incarcerated or not.�

Judge Katherine Fowler pledged to speak with jail officials about the concerns but wouldn’t reduce his bond.

She said she worried about releasing him given his history of mental health problems and the incident that put him in jail. She suggested he be sent to Barnes Jewish Hospital to be re-evaluated instead, to see if he is still fit for confinement given his health.

“He’s a very lucky man to have you as his sister,� Fowler told her. “You’ve been a good advocate for him.�

Following the evaluation, Kevin O’Shaughnessy could be kept in the hospital, remain in the justice center or be transferred to a different jail that could better meet his needs.

O’Shaughnessy’s case has not yet been set for trial.

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 7:25 p.m. Thursday with a statement from the city’s Department of Public Safety.