KY- Owensboro nursing home under investigation

12-14-2008 Kentucky:

Owensboro, KY (WFIE) - An investigation is underway after a resident at an Owensboro nursing home died early Monday morning, almost 2 months after police say he was severely beaten by a younger resident.

Police and the Daviess County Coroner believe Leslie Mulligan, 78, died from injuries suffered in an attack that occurred at the rest home on October 17th.

Now the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services has opened an investigation into Mulligan's death.

Just before 6:30 at night on October 17th, Owensboro police were called to the Rosedale Rest Home on Sutton Lane.

Marian Cosgrove with the Owensboro Police Department says, "It was stated that Mr. Jackson had hit the victim in the face and had struck him and when he was on the ground had kicked him and stomped on his head. That's what ultimately caused the initial injuries."

Christopher Lee Jackson, 22, who also lived at the home, was arrested for the beating and taken to the Daviess County Detention Center.

Leslie Mulligan had suffered a fractured skull, bleeding from the brain, broken left elbow and a severe injury to his left ear.

"His injuries were severe and would have been severe for anyone," says Daviess County Coroner Bob Howe.

Mulligan died Monday morning, and an investigation has been opened.

Howe says blunt force trauma is the cause of Mulligan's death.

He is waiting for the official autopsy from the state medical examiners office before ruling his death a homicide.

This is not the first investigation the Cabinet has done on the Rosedale Rest Home.

In May, Dorthy Gaskins, a resident there, walked away from the facility.

The coroner ruled Gaskins drowned.

Her body was discovered in the Ohio River by a boater.

The owner of the Rosedale Rest Home, Drew Haynes, did not return our phone call Thursday. ..News Source.. by Stuart Peck