A nurse’s aide with a recent history of battering elderly residents is charged after allegedly hitting and shaking a 95-year-old woman before her fatal stroke.
Denise Elaine Beard, 54, of Gary, was charged this week with neglect of a dependent resulting in death, a Level 1 felony, and four counts of battery against a disabled person, a Level 6 felony.
If convicted, a Level 1 felony alone carries 20-40 years in prison. She is in custody. Her next hearing is May 12 in Lake Superior Court in Crown Point.
Her lawyer Joe Roberts was not immediately available for comment.
Representatives from Munster Med Inn and Major Hospital in Shelbyville, which owns the facility, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on her employment status and their background check procedures.
A registered nurse working at Munster Med Inn, 7935 Calumet Ave., told police that she heard “screaming” on Dec. 14, then went into the room to see Beard push Laura Stump, 95, in a wheelchair too close to the bed, cutting and hurting her arm.
Beard had been moved to the second floor after having an issue with a co-worker on another floor.
Stump told her daughter that Beard had punched her arms, then grabbed her arm and shook her repeatedly, the affidavit alleges. Beard called Stump a “racist old white (expletive),” documents allege. “You don’t like Blacks or Mexicans.”
Her face was red from a possible injury.
Beard, who gave the daughter a false name, Kimberly, told her she took care of Stump. She first said Stump was hurt as she helped her in the bathroom, then later claimed she didn’t notice any injuries and could have done some of it to herself, records state.
“You hurt me. You called me names and you tore my skin,” Stump told her.
Stump had a stroke on Dec. 16 and died a week later.
Another resident said Beard called her a “smelly (expletive)” and punched her in the forehead. The woman said Beard also slapped her roommate, who wasn’t cognizant enough to give police a statement.
I don’t know why I do this stupid job, Beard was overheard saying.
Another man said she grabbed a water bottle and threw it at his face when Beard believed he wasn’t following her instructions.
Beard had a troubled history at a Gary rehab center just months before, charges state.
She was fired from South Shore Health & Rehabilitation, 353 Tyler St., in October, less than a month into her job.
Police reviewed her employment records from the Gary rehab center and the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. Two weeks into the job, she received a three-day suspension for calling a resident “lazy,” documents state.
“If he fell from the bed, she wasn’t going to pick his big (expletive) up,” records state, quoting her personnel file.
Additionally, a 95-year-old woman in that facility was found on Oct. 6 with a cheek welt and a swollen lip. The woman said Beard hit her in her face, back, arms and legs.
Beard told her employer she and a co-worker helped the woman and there was “nothing wrong” when they went on to the next resident.
A nurse said after Beard was told to leave, she threatened to “fight another employee.” She took so long to go that the nurse suspected she was on an “unknown substance,” the affidavit states.
mcolias@post-trib.com
