Family claims woman died after being brutally assaulted at North Royalton nursing home

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - A Bedford family is suing a North Royalton nursing home, claiming their mother died due to the abuse she suffered while at the facility.

The elderly woman died soon after sustaining injuries, and now her two daughters are demanding justice.

Linda Mercier was one of those people who lit up a room.

“She sang; she had one of the most beautiful voices,” said Linda’s daughter Laurie Jones.

“She was always there for us, and she was just a loving, wonderful human being,” said Linda’s other daughter Lisa DiFranco-Pillar.

In her later years, Linda developed Alzheimer’s Disease — and slowly drifted further from reality.

“She was completely helpless,” said Laurie.

“She was bed-ridden, or in her hospice chair,” said Lisa. “She wasn’t able to get in or out of bed.”

Linda raised her two daughters in Bedford, but as years passed by and her disease progressed, she moved in with Lisa and her husband in Brunswick Hills.

Several years later, it became clear Linda would need a higher level of care.

In 2023, Lisa placed her mother at the Diplomat Healthcare nursing home, located at 9001 W 130th Street in North Royalton.

14-months later, Lisa received some disturbing news.

“They said, ‘hey we found your mother in the bed with blood coming out of her head’,” Lisa recalled.

According to reports, a Diplomat employee told North Royalton police she thought Linda was abused by one of their own staff members.

Patrolman Nathan Erzen’s body cam was rolling when he responded to the call.

“Hi Linda, I’m patrolman Erzen with the North Royalton police,” the officer can be heard speaking to Linda.

Police blurred the video to protect patient privacy, but the images are still discernable.

“Who was the nurse who took care of you last night?” officer Erzen asked Linda. “Do you remember what her name was?”

Unfortunately, due to Linda’s Alzheimer’s, she wasn’t capable of articulating what had just occurred.

“Just how somebody could do that to her,” said Lisa. “I trusted them to care for her and then something like this happened.”

Linda was rushed to Southwest General Hospital for her injuries.

Her daughters were distraught, confused about what had happened.

Police photos show Linda suffered bruising to her face and deep lacerations to her scalp, requiring staples.

“Three staples, wow!” officer Erzen can be heard saying as he inspects Linda’s injuries.

“Are they giving you some good pain medicine?” Erzen asked Linda rhetorically.

According to the police report, a nurse’s aide claimed Linda “was being combative and bit her on the arm”.

That’s when another staff member rushed in to help.

But when that aide left Linda’s room, the other aide stayed behind.

The report states, “A couple minutes later” she “told someone she was leaving (the facility) because Linda spit on her face.”

Records show that employee, “Was (then) terminated for job abandonment”.

During Erzen’s initial investigation, he discussed the aide’s behavior with the nurse administrator and an inspector with the Ohio Department of Health.

“If I got spit on, I’d be pretty mad, but I wouldn’t leave work,” said Erzen.

Linda’s family wanted answers, but Lisa says when she questioned Diplomat administrators about what had happened, they told her very little.

“That they were sorry about what happened, and that was it,” said Lisa. “I mean, she was assaulted, for God’s sake, under your care.”

In the bodycam footage, the Diplomat’s nurse administrator appeared annoyed that Officer Erzen suspected the aide could be responsible for Linda’s injuries.

“I keep hearing you guys talk about it like this patient has been abused and, in my eyes, we’ve got an injury of unknown origin,” the administrator can be heard saying. “We don’t know what the hell happened in that room.”

The administrator then suggested it was possible another patient may have hurt Linda.

When detectives later interviewed the aide, she admitted, “she wasn’t very familiar with (this) dementia patient.”

She stated that while attempting to get Linda into bed, she began flailing her arms and nibbling on the inside of the aide’s bicep.

She said Linda then struck her upper lip before spitting on her face, something “she couldn’t deal with.”

She told the detective she noticed Linda had a yellow bruise on the side of her face and a superficial cut on one of her fingers but denied being the one who hurt her.

She also claimed she left the room at the same time as the aide who assisted her, despite statements from other aides who told the detective otherwise.

Records show police pursued felonious assault charges against the aide, however, North Royalton City Assistant Prosecutor James McDonnell declined to move forward, due to “insufficient evidence”.

McDonnel refused to discuss any further details about the case.

Meanwhile, Linda’s condition worsened.

“She passed within two months,” said Lisa.

“This world lost a beautiful soul,” said Laurie. “She loved everyone she met.”

Linda died on July 6, 2024.

Her death certificate attributed the cause as, “dementia of brain disease”.

However, her family feels she’d still be alive today if it hadn’t been for her injuries.

Linda’s daughters then hired Chagrin Falls attorney Eric Henry of The Henry Law Firm.

In April, Henry filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against Diplomat Healthcare and their parent company, Saber Healthcare Group LLC.

Both defendants are represented by attorney Leslie Jenny, who specializes in Health Care Liability.

19 Investigates tried contacting Jenny — and both Saber and Diplomat Healthcare directly for comment — but haven’t heard back.

On May 30, Jenny filed an answer to the complaint, denying all allegations of negligence and medical malpractice.

In court records it states if Linda did suffer injuries, they weren’t caused by the facility.

19 Investigates reviewed prior complaints filed against Diplomat Healthcare and found the Department of Health and Human Services fined the facility $11,213 on October 10, 2024.

The report states,

“The facility failed to ensure resident-to-resident physical altercations were reported (to) the State Agency as required. This affected ten Residents of 39 Residents who reside on the secured memory care unit.”

Meanwhile, Linda’s daughters are haunted by thoughts of what they suspect happened to their mother behind closed doors.

“She was completely helpless,” said Laurie. “So how is anything going to happen, other than someone hurt her?”

“She was always there for us, no matter what,” Lisa struggled to speak through her tears. “She was just a wonderful, warm human being.”

North Royalton Police won’t release the suspect’s name in this case since she hasn’t been charged.

They tell 19 Investigates this case is now closed.

If you’d like to compare nursing home facilities, you can search medicare.gov’s website.

Need an investigation? Contact 19 Investigates with your request.