" I knew all of the residents in this home this doesn't sound like Robert at all... "

" What a waste of taxpayers money, knowingly charging a mentally incompetent person with charges that should not stick, given they have sufficient defense counsel. "

" Maybe they have to press the charges to get the man sent to a more secure environment. Not necessarilty prison. "

" Oh the charges can be made to stick. But he may not be ordered to a Department of Correction facility, but rather a state operated facility for those with DD. There are appropriate placements in these facilities for individuals who are not fit to stand trial and who may be violent offenders. So it may be necessary to go to court to get the perpitrator to where he really needs to be. "

" I agree Rick1938. Maybe someone should evaluate the other clients of Greywood to insure the safty of others not only in the group home but in the community. "

" we are forgetting that someone else should be held responsible, they were to be supervised, there were 3 people working that night, where the hell were they!? This man, Robert is incompetent, that is why they live in SUPERVISED environments "

" The investigation will uncover the truth and charges will be filed and upheld as seen fit by the justice system. "

" I think we will have to wait and see what happens with the staff. I am sure that there are still some investigating going on. I can only hope that if the staff were in the wrong they will have to face some sort of charges as well. "

" And injustice is on the money with their remarks!! "

" justice will not prevail because these people aren't able to have a voice of their own "

" Sad thing is, the ones who have a voice aren't heard "

" justice is being served finally joiegirl, so i've seen on t.v. "

" Joiegirl- it's obvious that you are one of the one's that knows the REAL truth. I would hope you use your knowledge to help put the guilty behind bars where they belong! "

" Most companies fire people for failing drug tests "

" To joiegirl78,
If you have information that could prevent another tragedy from occuring in this residence, PLEASE report it to the proper authorities. The residents of this home may not be able to speak up to protect themselves, but you might be able to help them. "

" What kind of outfit is this that requires an employee to contact "company managers" before calling police?

How much time might have been lost before help arrived?

The practices of the Graywood Foundation seem pretty suspect here. "

" IT IS NOT COMPANY POLICY! They are not being honest! They (the staff) did in fact violate policy and procedure. In an emergency situation 911 is called FIRST AND then notify managers!! THE TRUTH WILL COME OUT DURING THE FULL INVESTIGATION. "

" Robert should not face these charges alone! "

" I wonder if these violent group home individuals were receiving training at the Lincoln Springs facility? "

" tds1999 said..." IT IS NOT COMPANY POLICY! They are not being honest! They (the staff) did in fact violate policy and procedure. In an emergency situation 911 is called FIRST AND then notify managers!! THE TRUTH WILL COME OUT DURING THE FULL INVESTIGATION. "

tds, Unless Dustin suffered some obvious external damage that would require medical attention, why would they call 911? It was another "B Street Boys" day. If Dustin got beat up then laid down there would be no sense of emergency at all. Staff are certainly not qualified to assess a closed head trauma. If CPD was called every time a B street resident was in a scuffle or tore something up or stole something or assaulted staff, they wouldn't be able to get much else done. When these scuffles and damages occur, staff get it into the chain at whatever level they can contact soonest, follow the instructions and directive of the supervisor, fill out the incident report and that is it. Please do not try to claim that staff should have foreseen the severity of the injury. I am neither propping up nor putting down the staff involved, but please do not promote the idea that Graywood has somehow found college kids who can predict the damage of a traumatic blow to the head. If the house were on fire or someone was bleeding severely or obviously seriously injured 911 would have been called first, none of those were the case so they did what they always do. If it was not a lack of supervision issue and the staff had awareness of the fight as it occured, egged it on, or, God forbid, were actually physically involved in hurting Dustin, it will come out in the investigation. The residents who know will tell, whether another resident has them fearful or a staff member. The college age staff is not quite savvy enough to get over on the professionals and the residents will be happy to get it off their chests. I agree with joiegirl, this doesn't sound the least bit like anything we have known RG to do. He is much more likely to defend the weaker against the more violent and is talented at functioning as a mentor and classroom assistant to the lower functioning clients at the day program.
Some residents have explosive anger disorders, but RG isn't one of them. "

" RG is honestly one of the most compassionate residents I've seen when it comes to assisting those less fortunate than himself. Rev Clif & I both personally know he is a good guy with unfortunate problems but not violent like this depicts him to be. "

" Just an "fyi" for those of you who are following this news thread, & may be first time posters here on this website....

Please consider placing these comment threads, that you're posting on, in your "Bookmarks/Favorites", because after a few days, these threads are jetted off to the Archive wastelands, & it's a pain in the buns to try & look them up there.

Thanks.
:-) "

" Where were all these important truths and stories before a 21 year olds life was taken. This petty bickering is pointless so while those of you who insist on pointing fingers. Be sure to point one at yourself!!!! "

" It's hard to prevent things when management sugar coats everything to OIG or Guardians. And furthermore I have no need in pointing a finger at myself I NEVER let things get to this point. "

" Ahh, joiegirl78, me thinks thou dost protest too much! "

" why wouldn't you call 911, you never put an unconcious person in bed, its a little one story house, 3 people were supposed to be supervising "

" reddual wrote on Sep 4, 2008 4:34 PM:

" Ahh, joiegirl78, me thinks thou dost protest too much! "

This may be true but when someone you know loses their life over stupidity that COULD HAVE AND SHOULD HAVE been prevented, you tend to get a bit riled up.

Did you not see this part of the article:

Gardner also claimed that some group home employees also attacked Higgins, the documents say, and workers said Higgins frequently stole from other residents at the facility.

As someone who worked there, I can see this from a number of staff... "

" To Nurse 77: maybe if you were able to spell the word 'safety' you would be able to serve the mentally ill/disable in a respectable manner! You are a disgrace to the medical profession! "

" I would caution joiegirl78 about HIPAA and her obligation to protect confidential information of current and/or previous clients. (Would you want someone posting your private info on this blog w/o your permission?) A few people are revealing too much here. If aware of abuse/neglect (systemic or otherwise), an individual should contact OIG. In fact, if still employed there, the worker is obligated to do so. Failure to report could fall in the relm of neglect or abuse. Review the revised OIG rules/regs; I believe failure to report could result in a felony charge too. Regs aside, we all have a moral compass. Perhaps you should follow yours. "

" "Citzen42" you spelled disabled wrong I will let nurse77 know that he/she isn't such a disgrace after all. "

" Citzen42 I am Sorry my typing error ticked you off, I did not know good typing made a good nurse that just makes you look petty and ignorant. Oh by the way you may want to let the staff writter and a few of the other people writing on this that greywood has an "e" in it not an "a" "

" you dont know me if you did you would never say that I have devoted my entire adult life to care of others. What have you done "

" Opinionated Gal
If you go to the other article you will see that my first name has bee published-couldn't careless. On the HIPAA laws- I've not mentioned anything that isn't in plain sight right here in these articles. I've not mentioned names nor have I mentioned specifics of anything I have seen. And as far as reporting it I DID. I reported to my supervisors as well as to OIG and nothing ever happened to any of the staff involved- in fact I know of at least one staff who has since been promoted to a management position. I do know what I am talking about as I HAVE SEEN IT. "

" Nurse77 is a damn good nurse and is far more caring than alot of the people bashing us for wanting justice. "

" Nurse77 I bet had you known that would of made you a terrible nurse and such a disgrace you would have used spellcheck LOL "

" Actually Graywood is spelled with an a not an e "

" I mean "a" not "e" "

" I apologize. I gave inaccurate information earlier. This is from the OIG site: Public Act 94-853, effective June 13, 2006, states that intentionally not reporting an allegation or reporting it late is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and/or up to a $2,500.00 fine.----This was cut/pasted to avoid spelling errors. "

" I will call my employer and quit my job because i am incompetant. Watch out the nurse that might be saving your life can't spell "

" Joieirl Ha Ha "

" I have known Nurse77 for many years, she has ALWAYS been a terrible speller but is sure a heck of great nurse. "

" Actually- while blogging I was on my break. We do get those at my present employer. "

" Really people are going to argue about spelling and typos? COME ON! There is a man dead...pray for the family, clients, etc that knew and loved Dustin. He was a beutiful person- he could be a pain sometimes but God love him we all can right? Everyone needs to take the time to remember the pictues he drew and the cards he made for EVERYTHING! Remember how he told people to "take er easy." He loved everyone. What if you were Dustin's parent and saw how disrespectful these blogs had become? It is a time, like ladybird 75 said in the other blog, to come together as agencies, providers, staff, and friends to support and assure the best care for all. Stop the bickering and remember how this all started...any negativity should be ashamed of themselves. try to stay positive for Dustin and stop the petty personal attacks. "

" There were no personal attacks until Riverrat mentioned names. AGAIN I AM ONLY TRYING TO MAKE PEOPLE AWARE THAT THIS ISNT THE BEST PLACEMENT. "

" For the past two days, I have read blogs that present various allegations of abuse/neglect in this agency's homes. I cannot attest to whether these statements are true or false. However, if each individual reported what they witnessed to the OIG after/during each incident, there should be a substantial paper trail related to this case. Regardless of whether a preponderance was found in the individual cases (OIG can't look at previous cases in an investigation and can only make decisions based on evidence), I believe an attorney could subpeona this information for the current criminal case. (Reality: it may not make a difference.) Again, this is why the concerned bloggers should (in present and future) report if they are confident that their statements are true. "

" I am an eiu alumni as and I actually work for graywood at B street and know robert. My point is that I worked at that house for 2 yrs and can tell you that although I'm sure their are people who truely care about the clients who live their I still feel that this probably could have been prevented with effective staff training. I won't "bash" Graywood because without their services a lot of kids would be misplaced, but hopefully this is a wakeup call to the institution and Mr O (is he still the owner) who was a nice guy by the way, but they need to tighten up things at the houses and conduct ongoing house training. I know a lot of times when I was their the few bad instances I had were because the clients were in their rooms for several hours and we (staff on duty) weren't checking in on them. Again, I'm just being completely honest about my time at B street..they were good kids for the most part, but I can see how something like this could happen because I'm sure the staff now is no different than we were back in the day!!! My heart goes out to that young man's family and friends, please keep them all in your prayers. "

" You make complete and utter sense exchucktown resident- that's what I've been getting at all along. CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT. WHO WAS IN CONTROL AT THE TIME OF THIS INCIDENT??? "

" yes exchucktownresident and yes joiegirl, exzactly right, we aren't being negative we are being positive by exposing a horrible truth and Dustins parents would probably be grateful "

" There is a lot of petty garbage in many of the comments, but I agree with what injustice85 wrote on Sept. 3, 4:05 PM

The Staff should be the ones held responsible for the residents murder.
They are the ones who are supposed to be responsibly taking care of the residents.

From the article itself, it appears to me that something is definitely radically wrong with Coles County, if the court system feels a resident should be charged, when the guilty persons really are all irresponsible & negligent staff members. "

" How can Lutz be appointed to represent Gardner? His daughter used to work at Graywood and worked with Dustin for sure, and possibly may have also worked with Robert! (I can not remember for sure which homes she worked at, but I do know she worked at 4th Street when Dustin reisded there!)

Wouldn't that be cosidered conflict of interest?!?!?! "

" motochik: while in most places I think that definitely would be conflict of interest, you got to realize that THIS is Coles County IL. Here, conflict of interest is given for different types of conflicts. For example: The case where Ms. Pris Ebdon refused to be a court-appointed attourney for a divorced lady, who was accused of tresspassing at her former husbands residence, because Ms. Ebdon was paid $500 by the man. That is what constitutes conflict of interest in Coles County.

Simply the fact that this IS Coles County, I think is also most likely the reason that the STAFF of Graywood is not held liable for the responsibility of preventing the resident in question from committing murder. Therefore, here it is eaier & simpler to foot the blame on a person of doubtful mental abilities. "

" graywood and the court system probably share a common bank account lol "

" motochik: do you know lutz's daughter personally? remember her exact work schedule, eh? and yeah, it is coles county.. "