Family seeking answers in woman's fatal fall at nursing home

BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) - The family of an 85-year-old nursing home patient who was found dead at the bottom of a stairway still strapped in her wheelchair said they are seeking answers, including why her caregivers did not call police.

The St. Clair County coroner's office learned about Juanita Simmons' death at Midwest Rehabilitation and Respiratory Center last Thursday from a funeral home, which called asking what type of death certificate would be issued - one indicating the death was from natural causes or another stating it was an accident, Deputy Coroner Dean Darnall told the Belleville News Democrat (http://bit.ly/1Cjd0H1 ).

The coroner's office requested that the body be returned to Belleville, where an autopsy on Friday did not immediately determine the cause of death.

Simmons' granddaughter Tonya Adams said her family also wants to know how her grandmother got through a doorway to the stairway.

"That should not have happened," Adams said. "She had no business at the bottom of a stairway."

Coroner Rick Stone says Simmons' death is being investigated as an accident, and Darnall said the Illinois Department of Public Health was investigating.

Health Department spokeswoman Melaney Arnold said she could not talk about a specific investigation, but said they generally focus on whether their other residents are in danger. Any criminal investigation would be left to local police or coroners, she said.

Neither nursing home administrator Becky Garcia nor Christy Utterback, vice president of operations for Integrity Communities, which operates it, would comment to the newspaper.

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Information from: Belleville News-Democrat, http://www.bnd.com