61-Year-Old Nursing Home Resident Rapes, Murders 80-Year-Old Invalid; Gets 45-Year Sentence

KEY POINTS

The Marion County Coroner's Office ruled that Newnum died of asphyxiation by smothering
The family of Newnum filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the healthcare center
A Medicare ranking listed the nursing home as "much below average"

A resident at a nursing home in Indiana was sentenced Thursday to prison for the murder and rape of another elderly invalid last year, according to a report.

The man, identified as 61-year-old Dwayne Freeman, was sentenced to a total of 45 years of imprisonment after he pleaded guilty on June 8 for the crimes against 80-year-old Patricia Newnum at the nursing home where they both lived, the Associated Press reported.

According to court documents, an employee at Homestead Healthcare Center in Indianapolis entered Newnum's room to give her medication on the morning of Feb. 2, 2022.

And as soon as she walked into her room, she saw Freeman naked on top of Newnum while holding a pillow over her face.

The Marion County Coroner's Office ruled that Newnum died of asphyxiation by smothering.

Though Freeman admitted he had sex with the 80-year-old fellow resident, he claimed the intercourse was consensual.

It's unclear how Freeman ended up being a nursing home resident.

The family of Newnum filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the healthcare center, owned by Adams County Memorial Hospital, saying that her death was the "inevitable result" of poor staffing and "horrendous" conditions at the nursing home, WTHR reported.

The lawsuit, filed by Newnum's husband and daughter, accused the operator of the healthcare center, CommuniCare Inc., of wrongful death, pre-death loss of consortium and negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The family also said Newnum's rape and murder were "the tragic culmination of constant, horrendous conditions and conduct" at the Indianapolis' south side nursing home.

Homestead Healthcare Center's nursing staff turnover rate was about 79%, according to data from the government, and even worse among registered nurses at 92%.

The average nursing staff turnover rate in the U.S. is just about 50%.

"A culture of crime, drugs, alcohol abuse, and poor treatment of residents and patients has been permitted to fester at Homestead Healthcare Center," the lawsuit claimed.

"Opioid abuse, overdoses, and marijuana use by patients were prevalent at Homestead Healthcare Center," the lawsuit added.

A Medicare ranking listed the nursing home as "much below average" after it was inspected in January 2020.

The inspection also generated 19 citations for the nursing facility at a time when the average number of citations in the United States, in general, was 8.1 and 9.1 in Indiana.