Nursing home patient, 75, dies 2 months after brutally beaten by 20-year-old roommate, Trump condemns assault
An elderly Detroit nursing home patient, who was brutally beaten by his 20-year-old roommate at the facility, has died, according to his family. The brutal assault, which was captured on video, received widespread attention after President Donald Trump shared the video on Twitter and condemned the assault.
The patient, identified as 75-year-old Norman Bledsoe, was a resident at the Westwood Nursing Center when he was assaulted by his roommate Jaden T. Hayden on May 15. The attack was allegedly filmed by Hayden on his cellphone and later posted on social media. Bledsoe reportedly suffered four broken fingers, broken ribs, and a broken jaw as a result of the attack.
Bledsoe's nephew, Kevin Bledsoe, in a statement on Monday morning, July 28, confirmed his death. It is, however, not yet clear whether Bledsoe's demise is linked to the May attack. Kevin said that his uncle had been depressed and was not eating properly post the attack. "His eating habits went downhill after (the alleged assault), and he lost quite a bit of weight," the nephew told The Detroit News.
Hayden, who was apprehended by authorities post the assault, faces two counts of assault with intent to do great bodily harm, theft, and two counts of credit card theft in connection with the alleged beating. Assistant Wayne County prosecutor Maria Miller, on Monday, said that the 20-year-old is awaiting a hearing scheduled on July 30 to determine if he’s mentally competent to stand trial.
Authorities reportedly also probed other videos posted by Hayden on YouTube, appearing to show him assaulting other people. In one of the clips on his channel, Hayden claims African Americans are "chosen people," female celebrities are actually men, and the novel coronavirus is God’s punishment for gays and lesbians.
Kevin said that his uncle did not get many visitors at the nursing home considering the current coronavirus pandemic. "We finally were able to see him last week. He wasn’t doing very good. I guess there just wasn’t anything else they could do for him," he told the outlet. He added that his family plains to go forward with a lawsuit against the nursing home. The law firm representing the nursing home, post the attack, had released a statement, saying Westwood was cooperating with authorities and its top priority was the safety of its residents. Trump, who had tweeted the disturbing video of the attack on May 21, had tweeted: "Is this even possible to believe? Can this be for real? Where is the nursing home, how is the victim doing?" Shortly after Trump posted the video, a man identifying himself as Hayden's father had said that his son has multiple health issues, including autism, and was hearing voices.
"That hurts to see that. What he did is wrong and (I offer) my apologies to the victim’s family," Hayden's father told Fox2Detroit at the time. "I just don’t want people to think that he’s this vicious individual. He’s got mental issues." He also added that there was a pending case against in his son in Washtenaw County, where the 20-year-old was accused of assaulting a staffer at another group home. It is not yet clear when Hayden will be tried for the Washtenaw County case.