GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker says he is not going to charge a man accused of severely beating his roommate at a Grand Rapids nursing home.
Retired machine operator Dan McBrian died in July from complications from a broken jaw several months after he was attacked by another patient at Samaritas Senior Living Center.
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The Kent County medical examiner ruled the July 11 death a homicide, but today the prosecutor said he is not issuing charges because the assailant is a dementia patient and can't be held responsible for his actions.
The man suffers from dementia and early onset Alzheimer's disease, which Becker said caused impaired judgment, insight and impulse control.
"It would not serve any purpose to charge'' the 61-year-old man, Becker wrote in the three-page ruling released Wednesday, Oct. 10.
"His mental state would prevent this from happening,'' Becker wrote. "Under these circumstances, this office will not file charges against him for this incident.''
Read Becker's statement in full here:
Statement on Nursing Home Death by WZZM News on Scribd
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