Nurse Indicted On New Charges Relating To Nursing Home Resident's Death

Friday, March 20, 2015 at 7:28 AM

By Mike Perleberg

Dearborn County Courthouse. (Dearborn County, Ind.) – A nurse once accused of causing the death of a nursing home resident has been indicted on new charges for the same incident. Kathy Hess, 58, of Bright, was a nurse at Woodland Hills Care Center in Lawrenceburg. In December 2013, 77-year-old resident Dione Scalf died at Dearborn County Hospital after becoming unresponsive at the nursing home. Scalf’s remains were scheduled for cremation when a witness told a police officer at a family Christmas party that she had allegedly witnessed Hess shaking Scalf. That prompted an autopsy which led the coroner to determine that Scalf has suffered a broken vertabra caused by physical abuse. The following February, prosecutors charged Hess with Reckless Homicide (Class C felony), Battery Resulting in Death (Class B felony), and Neglect of a Dependant Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury (Class B felony). Dearborn-Ohio County Prosecutor Aaron Negangard dismissed without prejudice the charges against Hess in October. However, dismissing without prejudice left open the possibility for prosecutors to bring the case to a grand jury. At the time of the dismissal, Negangard said that he would refile the charges or take the case to a grand jury “once we get the information we are seeking.” A grand jury convened on March 13 and after hearing evidence issued three new indictments against Hess for Neglect of a Dependent Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury (Class B felony), Reckless Homicide (Class C felony), and Battery Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury of an Endangered Adult (Class C felony). What new information or evidence may have prompted the new indictment is not known. Grand jury hearings are closed to the public and their activities are secret. The indictments were unsealed by the court and provided to Eagle 99.3 by the prosecutor’s office on Friday. Hess is scheduled to make her initial appearance in Dearborn Superior Court II on the new charges on Wednesday, March 25. After the first round of charges were dismissed last fall, Hess’ defense attorney, Robert Ewbank, said an independent pathologist determined a completely different cause of death for Scalf – heart failure triggered by a vasovagal response caused by constipation. The broken vertabra, the defense claims, was caused by EMTs performing CPR on Scalf as she lay on a body board. “Kathy Hess is innocent. The whole episode of what happened is distorted. The evidence is fairly clear that she did not cause the death of Dione Scalf,” said Ewbank. Hess’ husband, Alan, said that his wife was prepared to take the case to trial last year, but the prosecutor only sought to dismiss the charges “because he didn’t have a case.” RELATED STORIES: UPDATE: Case Dismissed Against Nurse Accused In Patient Death; Husband Speaks Out Judge Lowers Bond For Nurse Accused In Patient’s Death Nurse Requests Bond Reduction In Patient Death Case Nursing Home Employee Accused In Patient’s Death