Resident Beaten to Death at Chicago Nursing Home - UPDATE
We discussed the tragic death of Andres Cardona at the hands of his roommate, Ardyce Nauden, in a previous blog.
Seventy-two year old Andres Cardona entered Ardyce Nauden's room and began eating his food. Nauden, who has a history of drug convictions and aggressive behavior, reportedly admitted to authorities that he repeatedly punched Cardona in his head because he was eating Nauden's lunch. Cardona was transported to the hospital and died on September 18, 2009 from his injuries.
On December 3, 2009, Cardona's death was ruled a homicide by the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office and now, Nauden faces first-degree murder charges.
After this incident, The Chicago Tribune asked the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) for all records relating to assault allegations at the nursing home facility for the past three months. Initially, health department officials said they had none. After pressure, the IDPH managed to locate three reports, including the one involving Cardona, despite Chicago police reporting 11 alleged batteries in the 90 day period. A health department spokesperson, Melaney Arnold, said that the department is overwhelmed with incident reports and "unfortunately with the staffing we have, we're not always about to connect the dots."
