A 39-year-old nursing aide at a Hamilton County care facility is facing felony charges after a nurse allegedly caught him with his hand pressed over an 80-year-old resident's mouth and nose, muffling the man's cries for help. Wesley Martin was arrested on Sept. 17 and now faces felony charges of battery resulting in bodily injury to an endangered adult and battery against a disabled person.
According to Current Publishing, the incident happened at Maple Park Village, a nursing facility in Hamilton County. A nurse reportedly heard a noise that sounded like muffled yelling, then walked in and found Martin with his hand over the resident's mouth and nose, pushing down on his face. The nurse directed Martin to leave the room and go home immediately.
Martin allegedly told the resident to “shut the hell up” during the encounter, per the same report. Afterward, the elderly man told staff that someone was “trying to kill him,” and he was described as shaken and jittery. He also asked for ibuprofen because of neck pain, the outlet reported.
Resident's Injuries and Vulnerabilities
Following the alleged assault, the resident was assessed with swelling around his left eyebrow and an abnormal-appearing right side of his mouth, according to the report. The man has several medical diagnoses, including dementia and legal blindness, and requires 24-hour skilled nursing along with supervision and assistance with daily living, the outlet noted.
Those vulnerabilities are central to the felony charges Martin now faces, since both counts specifically involve an endangered or disabled adult. The Indiana Department of Health submitted a complaint about the alleged abuse involving the resident, and separately, an investigator with the Indiana Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit was assigned in February to look into allegations involving a Maple Park Village resident, the report states.
Suspension, Termination and Next Court Date
Martin was suspended following the incident and was later terminated from his job, according to the report. His bail was set at $5,000, and a pretrial conference has been scheduled for Nov. 11.
Cases alleging mistreatment inside Indiana care facilities have drawn scrutiny elsewhere in the state this year. WGNTV reported that a nursing aide was charged after a 95-year-old resident died at a Northwest Indiana care facility, with other residents also allegedly abused. The Maple Park Village case has also been covered by WTHR, which described the allegations as a nursing aide holding down and covering the mouth of an 80-year-old patient.
