A violent reaction to a breach of social distancing guidelines led to the death of an 86-year-old woman in a Brooklyn, New York, hospital.
Janie Marshall, who suffered from dementia, became disoriented in the Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center on a Saturday in late March, just as the coronavirus was starting to tear through New York City. Confused by the commotion, Marshall wandered out of her hospital room, where she was receiving treatment for a blocked bowel, and walked out into the hallway of the emergency room.
While walking, Marshall lost her balance and grabbed onto the IV pole of another patient, 32-year-old Cassandra Lundy. Lundy became furious at Marshall, who was within the six-foot buffer recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Lundy shoved Marshall, causing the 86-year-old to fall and strike her head. Marshall died three hours after the attack.
Police first issued Lundy a summons for disorderly conduct, but one week later, the medical examiner deemed Marshall’s death a homicide, prompting police to charge Lundy with assault and manslaughter. It is not clear why Lundy, who has previous arrests for drug-related crimes, was in the hospital that day.
Antoinette Leonard Jean Charles, Marshall’s grandniece, condemned the attack, telling the New York Times, “How do you put your hands on an 86-year-old woman? I also understand the fear level of every person in New York. … There is a notion of every man for themselves. But attacking an elderly person? That went too far.”
The hospital is also being questioned for its response to the incident. Marshall’s niece Eleanor Leonard had called for an ambulance to bring her aunt to the hospital after Marshall told her she was suffering a severe stomachache. Families were already barred from joining patients in the hospital because of the coronavirus, so she waited for a call. After hearing nothing, she called the facility around 5 p.m. and was told her aunt was receiving care.
“I thought, ‘That’s great. She’s being tended to,’” Leonard explained. “I didn’t know she was dead already.”
Leonard wasn’t notified of her aunt’s death until 3:30 a.m. The hospital told her that her aunt died of cardiac arrest, but Leonard noted that Marshall did not have any major heart issues. She later received a call from a cousin in Long Island who asked her, “Did you know your aunt was murdered?”
Leonard said she was “stunned.” She searched for her aunt’s name online and found details of the alleged homicide.
“I understand we are in the middle of a pandemic, but to say nothing?” Leonard said of the hospital.
Marshall’s family is now facing the heartbreaking reality that many New Yorkers are facing as they plan a virtual funeral. Jean Charles lamented the situation, saying, “We want to obey social distancing rules, and yet she died because of these social distancing rules. It’s ironic in a very sad way.”
As of Thursday, there were more than 160,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in New York, with more than 7,000 related deaths.
