INCLUSION DAILY EXPRESS -- Choctaw Living Center

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CHOCTAW LIVING CENTER, OKLAHOMA

"The things that go on out there, while they are not excusable, they are somewhat tolerable because of the alternative. What are you going to do with these people if you don't keep them there and hope that that facility is doing the best that it can?"
--Former Deputy Health Commissioner Brent VanMeter, responding in January 2000 after the body of Victoria Pepiakitah was discovered in her room at Choctaw Living Center -- six days after she had died

[Note: In May, 2000, Brent VanMeter, the man responsible for overseeing Oklahoma's nursing facilities, including Choctaw Living Center, was arrested by FBI agents for accepting a bribe from a nursing home owner in exchange for certain favors. VanMeter and the nursing home operator would later be convicted and both sentenced to prison.]

2001
September 27: Murdered Man's Mom Files Suit Against Choctaw Living Center
2000
January 7: Resident's Body Found in Her Room, Six Days After Her Death
June 21: Former Administrator's License Pulled Following Death
September 1: Living Center Resident Dead at Hands of Other Resident, Police Say
September 13: Resident Charged With Murder As Facility Closes
September 14: Staff Encouraged Violence That Led To Death
October 27: Choctaw Supervisor Charged With Abusing Residents
December 20: Murder Charges Dropped Against Institution Resident

Jerome Vaught's Web Page

RESIDENT'S BODY FOUND IN HER ROOM, SIX DAYS AFTER HER DEATH
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
January 7, 2000

CHOCTAW, OKLAHOMA--Officials say the resident of an institution housing people with developmental disabilities was dead for six days before her body was discovered today -- in her bedroom at the facility.

Authorities believe Victoria Pepiakitah, 48, died from a seizure and fell between her bed and a dresser in her room at Choctaw Living Center. An administrator entered her room and, noticing an odor, called for house-keeping staff. The cleaning staff found Victoria's body on the floor underneath a blanket near the bed.

She last was seen alive on January 2.

Staff members reported they thought Pepiakitah had left the facility to visit family, even though the medications she would have needed to take with her were still at the center.

FORMER ADMINISTRATOR'S LICENSE PULLED FOLLOWING DEATH
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
June 21, 2000

CHOCTAW, OKLAHOMA--Medical examiners say that Victoria Pepiakitah died on January 2, apparently from a seizure. On January 7 -- six days later -- cleaning staff discovered her body in her room at Choctaw Living Center, an institution housing people with developmental disabilities. Inspectors from the state Health Department say an improperly trained nurse believed Pepiakitah had left the facility with a family member, and recorded her as being on a leave of absence.

This was not the first time CLC has had problems related to resident care. In 1998, the program was fined $10,000 for pulling teeth of 11 residents without gaining proper consent. In the last several years, at least six former employees have faced criminal prosecution over mistreatment of residents.

On Tuesday, the Board of Examiners for Nursing Home Administrators suspended the license for Treva Millarr, the CLC's former administrator, citing gross negligence in running the facility. As a result, Millarr will not be able to serve as an administrator in the state for one year.

LIVING CENTER RESIDENT DEAD AT HANDS OF OTHER RESIDENT, POLICE SAYBy Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
September 1, 2000
CHOCTAW, OKLAHOMA--Police have not released the name of a man arrested for strangling to death a fellow resident of the facility where they lived, according to wire reports.

During a routine check at about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, a Choctaw Living Center nurse discovered Joe McCormick Jr, 36, in his room. He had been strangled and was not breathing. Medical personnel tried to revive McCormick but were not successful. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital about an hour later.

Yesterday, a state medical examiner's autopsy listed McCormick's cause of death as strangulation, and the manner of his death as homicide.

Police took into custody a 34-year-old man, described as having "the mental capacity of a 1-year-old", who has been a Choctaw Living Center resident since it opened 13 years ago. They said the man was not McCormick's roommate but saw him daily at the facility. He was taken to the Oklahoma County Crisis Intervention Center, where police say he will stay until officials decide where he should be placed. As of Thursday evening, they had not arrested the man.

Choctaw Living Center is a private, for-profit facility housing about 85 adults with varying levels of mental retardation and health concerns, located just east of Oklahoma City. The center came under fire in January after a resident's death went undiscovered for six days. A member of the cleaning staff found Victoria Pepiakitah, 48, dead in her room on January 7. Pepiakitah was last seen alive on January 2.

MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER AS FACILITY CLOSES
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
September 13, 2000
CHOCTAW, OKLAHOMA--A man described by his sister as being "like a 2-year-old", was charged yesterday with second-degree murder in the August 30 death of a fellow nursing facility resident. The prosecutor said it was the only thing he could legally do in the case, even though a judge will likely find Jerome Vaught, 34, who has Down syndrome and does not talk, incompetent to stand trial.

According to investigators, a worker at Choctaw Living Center, which housed 74 people with developmental disabilities, reported finding Vaught standing over the body of Joe L. "J.J." McCormick Jr., 26, with a belt in his hands still wrapped around the victim's neck.

McCormick's mother claims that the day before her son's death, Vaught was seen dragging him through the center's hallways with a belt wrapped around McCormick's legs. A staff member took the belt away from Vaught, Leeha Tucker says, but gave it back the next day.

Also yesterday, state Department of Human Services officials acknowledged that two separate allegations of sexual abuse and staff neglect at the center were recently investigated and substantiated.

Last Friday, the Health Department's acting director Jerry Regier ordered the Choctaw Living Center closed, saying he feared another death could occur because the center's numerous Medicaid deficiencies "represented a threat to the health and safety of residents."

As of Tuesday afternoon, 64 of the residents had been moved to other facilities.

STAFF ENCOURAGED VIOLENCE THAT LED TO DEATH
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
September 14, 2000
CHOCTAW, OKLAHOMA--A Health Department investigation shows that staff members at Choctaw Living Center not only failed to intervene in a resident's escalating aggressive behavior, but also encouraged the violence that likely led to another resident's death on August 30. The investigation resulted in Health Department Acting Director Jerry Regier's ordered closure of the facility, which housed 74 people with developmental disabilities.

Jerome Vaught, 34, described as having Down syndrome and "the mental capacity of a 1- or 2-year-old", has been arrested on second-degree murder charges for allegedly strangling Joe Louis "J.J." McCormick Jr., 26, with a belt in McCormick's nursing home bedroom.

According to the Health Department report on the incident, McCormick's death came after a series of events since March in which staff members ignored and even encouraged Vaught's aggression toward the victim. Two center employees encouraged Vaught on at least three different occasions to fight with McCormick, offering him sodas as a reward for doing so. On a separate day, while the men watched wrestling on television, a staff member asked Vaught to imitate wrestling moves on McCormick.

At one time, Vaught was seen chasing McCormick with a steel pipe and another time with a wooden handle. And in late July, Vaught attempted to use McCormick's head to open doors in the facility.

Many of the incidents went unreported, and those that were reported to supervisors were usually dismissed as "just playing", investigators say. On one occasion workers did restrain Vaught because they feared he was going to choke McCormick with a pillowcase.

Most recently, on August 29, Vaught was seen using a belt fastened around McCormick's ankles to drag him along a hallway. One staff member witnessed the incident but did nothing to intervene. Another staff person claimed to have taken away the belt and sent Vaught to his room.

The next day Vaught was seen standing over McCormick still clutching the belt wrapped around the victim's neck.

On Wednesday, Choctaw Living Center Administrator Debbie Jones called her employees' actions "inappropriate," but said she didn't know the extent of the harassment.

"I should have been aware of what was going on," Jones told the Oklahoman. "But I cannot act on what I don't know. I acted to the best of my ability on what was reported to me." Jones added that Vaught did not have a history of aggressive behavior.

In January of this year, the center was fined $10,000 after the body of a resident went undiscovered in her bedroom for six days. The facility was ordered closed last Friday, but 20 of the residents have been difficult to place because of their "behavior problems".

Jones and the home's receiver, Oklahoma City attorney Randy Goodman, predict that the center will reopen with new owners sometime next year.

CHOCTAW SUPERVISOR CHARGED WITH ABUSING RESIDENTS
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
October 27, 2000
CHOCTAW, OKLAHOMA--A former supervisor at a now-closed institution could face up to $40,000 in fines and 40 years in prison for allegedly abusing residents of the facility.

Paul Harvey Ward, 43, was charged yesterday with four counts of "caretaker abuse" after employees of Choctaw Living Center described to investigators how he mistreated residents while employed as a supervisor.

Coworkers of the institution, which housed about 75 people with mental retardation, said that last May they saw Ward twist the finger of resident John McGlamery so violently that he dislocated it. Employees say Ward told McGlamery, "You're not going to flip me or anyone else off again."

Workers also told prosecutors that on two separate occasions in June, Ward used a "football style tackle" to knock residents down onto the tile floor. Another time, they claim, Ward threw a female resident down onto her bed, then pinned her there with his knee.

Ward, who has not been arrested, denies all of the allegations, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years and $10,000 fine. This morning's Oklahoman Online reports that Ward was on probation for felony grand larceny when he became supervisor at Choctaw.

State authorities, following up on the murder of a Choctaw resident, ordered the institution closed in early September after investigators learned that some employees had encouraged one resident to abuse another resident. Jerome Vaught, 34, described as having Down syndrome and "the mental capacity of a 1- or 2-year-old", has been charged with second-degree murder for allegedly strangling Joe Louis "J.J." McCormick Jr., 26, with a belt on August 30.

In its 13 year history, at least seven former employees have faced criminal prosecution over mistreatment of residents. In 1998, the program was fined $10,000 for pulling teeth of 11 residents without gaining proper consent. On January 7 of this year, cleaning staff found the body of resident Victoria Pepiakitah in her room -- six days after she apparently died during a seizure. Later, the Board of Examiners for Nursing Home Administrators suspended the license for Treva Millarr, the CLC's former administrator, citing gross negligence in running the facility.

MURDER CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST INSTITUTION RESIDENT
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
December 20, 2000
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA--A judge yesterday dismissed second-degree murder charges against Jerome Vaught, 35, who had been accused this summer of killing Joe L. "J.J." McCormick Jr, a fellow resident of Choctaw Living Center.

Oklahoma County District Judge Tammy Bass-Jones said she believed Vaught, who has Down syndrome and is described by his family as having "the mind of a 2-year-old" and "an IQ of 30", could not possibly understand the difference between right and wrong.

Bass-Jones also refused the prosecutor's request to order Vaught to remain locked up a state-run facility.

A staff member of the facility reported finding Vaught standing over the McCormick's body, holding a belt that was wrapped around McCormick's neck on August 30. Documentation surfaced during the investigation showing that prior to the death several employees had witnessed Vaught assaulting McCormick but had done little to intervene. Later reports indicated that some staff members had actually urged Vaught to wrestle McCormick, even offering him soda pop as a reward for doing so.

As the investigation revealed that the abuse problems were wide-spread, CLC was ordered closed and the 74 residents moved to other facilities.

The case against Vaught is over, but his defense attorney, John Coyle, is asking police to continue the investigation into McCormick's death.

"The real killer walks free," Coyle said Tuesday.

"I believe one of the workers did it," said Vaught's sister Jada Young said on Tuesday. "They're covering up what happened."

McCormick's death was just the last in a long history of abuse and neglect of Choctaw Living Center residents. For example, the institution made headlines in January of this year, when housekeeping staff found the body of Victoria Pepiakitah in her room, six days after she had died.

In October, four felony counts of caretaker abuse were filed against former CLC staff member Paul Harvey Ward. Coworkers reported to investigators that Ward had knocked a resident onto the floor, threw a female resident onto her bed, and twisted the finger of one man so hard he dislocated it.

Today's Shawnee News-Star compiled some of the known incidents in this story:
http://www.news-star.com/stories/121900/new_livingcenter.shtml

Murdered Man's Mom Files Suit Against Choctaw Living Center
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
September 27, 2001

CHOCTAW, OKLAHOMA--The mother of a man who was killed by a fellow resident at a Choctaw nursing facility has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the administrators and insurers.

Leeha Tucker claims Choctaw Living Center, a facility that housed 75 people with mental retardation, "allowed and failed to prevent mental and physical abuse of its patients" including her son, Joe L. "J.J." McCormick Jr.

McCormick, who had autism and spent 24 of his 25 years at the facility, died on August 30, 2000. A staff member reportedly discovered another resident, Jerome Vaught standing over McCormick's body with a belt wrapped around McCormick's neck.

A murder charge against Vaught, 34, who has Down syndrome, was later dropped.

Inclusion Daily Express reported last year that some staff members had encouraged Vaught to be violent, even rewarding him for attacking other residents including McCormick.

Within weeks of McCormick's death the state Health Department ordered Choctaw Living Center closed and the residents moved to other facilities. Last month the facility was sold for $1 million to a limited liability company.

Tucker says she hopes a jury verdict will compensate her for her grief and send a warning to other Oklahomans who are contemplating placing a family member in such a facility.

In the years before it was forced to close, residents at Choctaw Living Center endured repeated incidents of abuse. And in January of 2000 the body of one resident was found in her room, five days after she had died.

On-going coverage on Choctaw Living Center and the troubles at this institution over the past several years, is available from this web page:
http://home.columbus.rr.com/thevaughts/newspaper.htm

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