Multiple criminal charges, including murder, have been filed against the nurses linked to the death of 89-year-old World War II veteran James Dempsey. Loyce Pickquet Agyeman, a former licensed nurse practitioner, was indicted on Tuesday in Dekalb County, Georgia, for felony murder and neglect to an elder person, according to 11Alive. Wanda Nuckles, another former nurse practitioner, was charged with depriving an elder person of essential services, while nurse assistant Mable Turman faces a count of neglect to an elder person. The defendants each face a count of concealing the death of another.
If their names aren’t familiar to you, video of the incident should be. Footage showed nurses apparently ignoring his cries for help, then laughing as Dempsey continued to die. Law&Crime editor-in-chief Rachel Stockman first covered the incident in 2015 as a reporter for Atlanta’s WSB-TV. In that story, Dempsey’s family said they installed a nanny cam in his room at Northeast Atlanta Health and Rehabilitation in 2014.
They caught the patriarch’s final moments. As seen on footage, he repeatedly calls for help, only to largely be ignored. His family sued. Deposition video shows plaintiff attorney Mike Prieto pressing Nuckles, one of the nurses in the video.
At first, she testified that she did chest compressions until more help arrived, but the lawyer played the video.
“Contrary to the way you testified previously, there is no one doing CPR, is there,” he said.
“No,” Nuckles said.
Footage later showed apparent laughter in the room.
“Ma’am, was there something funny that was happening at 6:30:41 on February 21, 2014 in the middle of this attempt to resuscitate Mr. Dempsey?” Prieto said.
“I have no clue,” Nuckles said. “I can’t even remember all that, as you can see.”
Dempsey’s family reached a settlement with the nursing home.
[Screengrab via WSB-TV]