In the viral video, the man was caught punching an elderly man in a nursing home. That elderly man was a veteran and he reportedly died 2 months later. later identified as Norman Bledsoe. The victim had been sent to the nursing home because he had tested positive for COVID-19 and was part of a health officials’ policy that sent some COVID-positive patients to quarantine in area nursing homes.
The video of the assault on the victim, later identified as N. Blesdoe was very disturbing. “See this b–ch -ss N-word here?” the suspect, later identified as J. Hayden, said, grabbing the camera to show the victim’s bloodied face. “Get the F-word off my bed, N-word.” The suspect paused momentarily to wipe the elderly man’s blood off with a white sheet. “F-word wrong with you?” Hayden asked just before the video ended.
The Army veteran died two months after the horrific attack, leaving many to question whether the beating played a large part in his death. “His eating habits went downhill after (the assault), and he lost quite a bit of weight,” Norman Bledsoe’s nephew, Kevin Bledsoe. Norman Bledsoe suffered four broken fingers, broken ribs, and a broken jaw from the attack, and the attack even got a rebuke from former President Donald Trump in the White House.
The father of Hayden, said his son is autistic, suffers from schizophrenia, and that he has a history of assaultive behaviour. The court claimed they found Hayden incompetent to stand trial. In 2022, in the case of Jadon Hayden, the prosecutors made sure the court dismissed his case without prejudice, which means they can bring charges at a later date. If Hayden steps out of line and becomes a danger to the public again, they can reissue the charges. Meanwhile, the victim’s family has filed a lawsuit against the nursing home, which many argue should have known better than to place a schizophrenic young man in the same room as an elderly patient.
That may be of little comfort to the family of Norman Bledsoe, who had to endure watching their loved one suffer abuse and then lose his life a short time later. While no one wants to see a seriously mentally ill individual who has no recollection or control of his actions go to prison, neither does society condone using the insanity defense if the person truly understands right from wrong. What we can agree on is that the nursing home, as well as the Michigan health officials who enacted a policy that allowed this to happen, should have known better.