Death of Jersey City nursing home resident with dementia is classified by prosecutors as "homicide"; any corrective action likely handled "in-house"

Wednesday, March 02, 2011
By BRETT WILSHE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Friday's death of a Jersey City nursing home resident with dementia is classified by the prosecutor's office as a homicide, but any corrective action regarding the nursing home staff or the facility's policies will likely be handled in-house, a state Department of Health and Senior Services spokeswoman said yesterday.

"We have received the information about the incident and are reviewing the data," DHSS spokeswoman Marilyn Riley said. "But generally the way it works is that if we find out that a nursing home has a deficiency, their staff will submit a plan of correction to us."

In an incident that's been classified as a homicide - but Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio has said also appears to be a clear case of self defense - 81-year-old Andy Berthelot attempted to throw a television at a 72-year-old resident of the Newport Nursing and Rehabilitation Center on Feb. 20.

The 72-year-old defended himself by hitting Berthelot with a plastic waste basket, which caused a cut on Berthelot's head, DeFazio said. On Friday, Berthelot died from a brain hemorrhage, DeFazio said.

The investigation is ongoing and the 72-year-old has not been charged with a crime. Both men suffered from dementia, DeFazio said.

Officials at the nursing home were unwilling to speak to The Jersey Journal about the incident yesterday and had security escort a reporter off the premises.

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Before nursing home death, Jersey City had gotten to 4-month mark without a homicide

Tuesday, March 01, 2011
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Friday marked the end of a four-month period in which there had not been a murder in Jersey City. It was also the date of the first homicide in four months.

An 81-year-old nursing home resident died Friday, some days after a tussle with a 72-year-old fellow resident.

Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said a number of factors could have a played a role in the no-murder streak.

"Perhaps weather can have something to do with it, but I don't think that is the primary factor," he said. "I think it's law enforcement efforts, and just being fortunate."

Jersey City led Hudson County in murders last year with 25, three fewer killings than the 28 that occurred in the city in 2009. There were 35 murders committed in Hudson County in 2010, five more than in 2009.

The last homicide in Jersey City before Friday's was that of Kareem Trowell, 31. The Montgomery Street resident was stabbed to death in the Brunswick Estates housing complex at around 2:30 p.m. on Oct. 25, officials said.

Ricky Roman, 24, whose last known address was on Merseles Court in Jersey City, is charged in Trowell's murder, officials said.