OKLAHOMA CITY — A jury has found former nursing home owners guilty of negligence in the civil trial surrounding a shocking video from inside an Oklahoma City nursing home.
The jury has recommended damages be awarded to the family for negligence in the amount of $1.2 million and $10,000 in punitive damages.
“It renews everything. Yeah it’s very hard to watch,” Doris Racher, Eryetha Mayberry’s daughter, said.
To this day, tears fall when Mayberry’s family watches the video.
“It’s been a bad road for us.”
A hidden camera caught two nursing home employees abusing her in 2012.
Mayberry’s family says they set it up after she made accusations of someone stealing her things.
The video shows a nurse’s aide shoving a latex glove into 96-year-old Eryetha Mayberry’s mouth and another aide thumping her on the head.
Mayberry died a few months after the video surfaced.
Lucy Gakunga was convicted later that year for Abuse by Caretaker. Caroline Kaseke still has a warrant for her arrest.
“Everyone that places someone in a nursing home needs to be educated about what goes on,” Racher said.
Westlake Nursing Home Limited Partnership owned the Quail Creek Nursing and Rehabilitation Center at the time.
Mayberry’s three daughters believe the pain and humiliation inflicted on their mother could have been avoided with better supervision and training.
“I never ever saw anyone walk the halls, visualize what was going on,” Racher said. “I think that people that operate nursing homes, people that work in them should really be held accountable.”
The family also alleges the nursing home facility was made aware of abuse before, but did not do anything about it.
The former owner of the nursing home, Ron Lusk, says that is not true.
His lawyer argued in court that they immediately took action when they were made aware of the mistreatment of Mayberry.
