Our Illinois nursing home abuse attorneys are troubled by the fact that many elderly nursing home residents are denied appropriate care and a clean environment, deprived of their jewelry or money by theft, maltreated, or abused sexually or otherwise.
A 30-year-old former caregiver of a New York assisted living home was recently sentenced in connection with forgery and burglary of an elderly resident. Even worse, she is also accused of smothering her patient to death.
The caregiver faces a life in prison without the possibility of parole for committing such heinous crimes. In addition to a life sentence for murder, she will also serve 30 years in prison for first-degree burglary and another five years for unlawfully exploiting and abusing/neglecting a vulnerable adult. She also faces eight forgery counts.
Late last year, employees at OakBridge Terrace in Rock Hill discovered the 82-year-old victim dead on her bathroom floor, with water filling the room. A deputy coroner saw bruising around the victim’s eyes. A pathologist later revealed that the woman’s tongue was bitten and that there was hemorrhaging in her eyes and a number of fingertip impressions on her skin – all signs that indicated asphyxiation. The victim was a patient for two months at the home before her brutal murder.
The day before her death, the victim filed a police report against the accused because she received bank statements of checks made out to the care giver, with a forged signature.
Detectives found that the accused actually wrote at least eight checks to herself, forging the victim’s signature. They also determined that she used her employee ID card to enter the assisted living facility on the day of the victim’s death, and saw a surveillance video of the accused depositing the checks.
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The accused initially gave a fake story about where she was on the day of the victim’s death. However, when she realized that there was adequate proof indicating her involvement in the death, her story changed. She admitted to entering the care home on the day of the murder. After entering, she went to the 82-year-old woman’s room and spoke with her.
In the course of the conversation, the resident became upset and was on the verge of calling the police. The accused said that this is when she snatched the phone. The victim struck her in the head with the phone and that started a struggle.
The accused said that she lay on top of the elderly woman till the latter stopped breathing. A solicitor said that the accused panicked, dragged the elderly woman into the bathroom and left her in a running shower.
Another shocking instance of nursing home abuse was recently reported in a Chicago West Side neighborhood. A Chicago Tribune news article reported this nursing home abuse incident. The accused, who was employed at the nursing home as an aide, choked and slapped an elderly resident. After the victim backed away from him, the assistant pulled him up on to his pillow.
The 92-year-old victim uses a wheelchair and has a number of medical issues including dementia. The nursing home employee was charged with aggravated battery to a senior citizen and is being held on $100,000 bail.
If you believe your elderly loved one suffered neglect or abuse at an assisted living facility or other nursing home, you need to take immediate action before things get worse. Contact a nursing home abuse lawyer immediately to get the justice you deserve.
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