Chicago Criminal Lawyer Blog
Two employees of a Chicago-area nursing home are facing criminal charges after a 96-year-old woman froze to death inside of a van on a cold Chicago night. Prosecutors contend that the woman was being transported to a nearby hospital for medical attention but never made it home. The driver of the bus parked the van without checking to see if the woman was still in the back. She was left there overnight and discovered the next morning after having frozen to death. Afterward, the bus driver made a fake entry into a logbook that the woman was returned to her facility on time.
Other employees are also facing charges related to their failure to account for the woman over the course of an entire night. According to the complaint, the facility’s resident care manager was notified that the woman was not accounted for, but allegedly made no effort to find her. The next morning, staff began conducting a search for her and she was found still on the bus.
Two are facing charges related to the woman’s death, the driver of the bus who forgot the woman, and the resident care manager who failed to conduct a search until the next morning. Both are charged with criminal neglect of a long-term resident resulting in death, while the resident care manager is facing an additional lesser charge.
