BALTIMORE — A healthcare employee was sentenced to seven years behind bars following the death of a 75-year old patient in Northeast Baltimore.
Police began investigating May 18 last year, after responding to a call for aggravated assault at Autumn Lake Post Acute Care Center on Frankford Avenue.
A facility manager showed officers video of a Geriatric Nursing Assistant named Obiageriaku Iheanacho shoving down a resident with dementia.
The patient, identified as Ellsworth Johnson-Bey, was left hospitalized for weeks with a fractured hip.
Bey eventually returned to Autumn Lake for planned rehab, but never did recover enough to get out of bed.
He ended up contracting pneumonia and developing blood clots in his lungs due to inactivity.
After being diagnosed with COVID-19, Bey was again hospitalized and died September 5, 2022.
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The Medical Examiner's Office ruled his death a homicide, attributing it to the assault.
Iheanacho ultimately pleaded guilty to first degree assault and abuse of a vulnerable adult.
A judge imposed a 25-year sentence but suspended all but seven years. She will be placed on five-years supervised probation upon release.
“Mr. Johnson-Bey’s death was incredibly tragic,” said Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown. "Although the events leading up to Mr. Johnson-Bey’s death can never be undone, it is our hope that the defendant’s plea and sentencing in this case will bring some closure to those grieving.”
