Lawsuit: 'Torture-like' discipline led to death at group home
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Kathy Slovick, left, sister of Paul McCann, and his mother, Lois McCann, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in Coles County against the Graywood Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that runs several group homes in Charleston. Associated Press |
CHARLESTON — The "torture-like" punishment of a developmentally disabled man by employees at an eastern Illinois group home led to his death and was part of a pattern of abuse, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday by the man's family.
The mother and sister of Paul McCann filed the wrongful death lawsuit in Coles County against the Graywood Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that runs several group homes in Charleston and has been investigated by the state of Illinois for allegations of abuse and neglect.
McCann was the second Graywood resident to die surrounded by questions of employee abuse in less than three years. A former Graywood employee is scheduled to be sentenced in April on an involuntary manslaughter conviction in the 2008 death of Graywood resident Dustin Higgins and another former employee still faces charges in that case.
Phone messages left by The Associated Press for the Graywood Foundation were not immediately returned.
In the lawsuit, McCann's mother, Lois McCann, 79, of Joliet, and his sister, Kathleen Slovick, 52, of Glen Ellyn, claim Graywood failed to protect the 42-year-old McCann from abuse by employees. They claim Graywood failed to get him prompt medical care after an assault Jan. 19 at his Charleston group home.
McCann's ribs were broken in 13 places and he later died when his lungs filled with fluid. The Coles County coroner ruled McCann's Jan. 23 death a homicide.
Two employees, Marquis Harmon, 22, of Danville, and Keyun Newble, 25, of East St. Louis, face criminal charges in his death. Attorney Ed Piraino, who is representing Harmon, said his client would plead not guilty. The Associated Press could not determine if Newble has an attorney.
The lawsuit claims Newble and Harmon accused McCann, who had the mental capacity of a 6-year-old, of stealing food and punished him by piling books on his arms until he dropped the books. They then kicked and punched him for 45 minutes, the lawsuit states.
The next day, another employee tried to take McCann to a hospital, but a Graywood supervisor told her to turn around as she was en route, according to the lawsuit.
McCann eventually got some medical attention, but died of complications related to his injuries, the lawsuit claims.
More than 60 adults and youth live in Graywood-operated group homes in Charleston, but the facilities' future is in jeopardy.
The Illinois Department of Human Services, which oversees services to people with developmental disabilities on Medicaid, is taking steps to revoke Graywood's license. The department sent a letter notifying Graywood of the revocation, which will take effect March 30. Graywood can appeal.
A Tucson-based accrediting organization, the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, has suspended the facility's accreditation following McCann's death, according to spokesman Al Whitehurst.
The lawsuit doesn't name the state of Illinois, but the McCann family is unhappy they weren't told about the state's investigations of abuse at Graywood facilities, said attorney Shawn Collins, who is representing the family in the civil suit. The family also didn't know that employees were involved in the 2008 death.
"The fact that the McCann family is only learning all this information after their son is killed is unacceptable," Collins said. "Two residents were murdered in the last two and half years. What more does it take for the state to move in and take this place over or shut it down?"
