Friday, September 5, 2008 11:07 PM CDT
Third employee fired after Graywood death
By DAVE FOPAY, Staff Writer
dfopay@jg-tc.com
CHARLESTON — Graywood Foundation President Augustine Oruwari said Friday that three employees have been fired for not following the company’s policies in connection with the death of a resident of one of its group homes.
Oruwari also said the company has established a scholarship in honor of Dustin T. Higgins, who died from injuries he received in an alleged attack by another group home resident.
Police documents in the case against Robert Triston Gardner, who’s accused of attacking Higgins, said group home employees told officers that they followed company procedure by notifying company managers before calling 911 after the alleged attack. On Friday, Oruwari said Graywood’s actual policy is for workers to call 911 “in any life-threatening situation.”
“There is no reason why anybody would not do that,” he said. “Those things were not excusable.”
Earlier in the week, Oruwari said two employees had been fired while a third was still being questioned.
Higgins, 21, died Monday at Carle Foundation Hospital, Urbana, and Gardner is accused of beating him at the home at 1511 B St., Charleston, on Aug. 24. Gardner, 26, was charged with aggravated battery after the alleged attack but before Higgins died and is currently jailed with bond set where he would have to post $10,000 to be released.
State’s Attorney Steve Ferguson said Friday his office is still reviewing whether to file other charges against Gardner in light of Higgins’ death. Gardner is scheduled to be evaluated by a psychologist for his mental fitness to stand trial, and Ferguson said his case is set for court on Monday to schedule further hearings.
According to the police documents in Gardner’s case, he admitted to an investigating officer that he slammed Higgins to the floor “like a wrestler” and was seen by a group home employee hitting Higgins in the head several times.
Oruwari said the dismissed Graywood employees were caregivers who were supposed to be directly supervising the home’s clients. If they found Gardner attacking Higgins in Higgins’ bedroom as they reportedly told police, that also was a violation of company policy, he said.
He also said it’s possible that Higgins’ stealing from Gardner did anger Gardner, as the police documents say, as several of the company’s clients have “stealing behaviors.” But that didn’t mean employees shouldn’t have stopped the fight before it got out of hand, he added.
The court documents also say Gardner claimed employees harmed Higgins as well, to which Oruwari responded that some clients’ disorders lead them to lie. He said Gardner “exhibits some of these behaviors but that doesn’t mean Robert’s lying,” but clients themselves can and are trained to notify police if they’re mistreated by employees.
Contact Dave Fopay at dfopay@jg-tc.com or 348-5733.
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DeepThroat wrote on Sep 6, 2008 4:45 PM: