California COVID patient beaten to death by hospital roommate: police
A COVID-19 patient at a California hospital allegedly struck and killed his roommate with an oxygen tank as a result of he was “upset when the victim started to pray,” the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department stated Wednesday.
Jesse Martinez, 37, has been arrested on suspicion of a hate crime homicide and elder abuse, the sheriff’s workplace said in a news release. The sufferer, an 82-year-old Hispanic man, was sharing a two-person room with Martinez at Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster in northern Los Angeles County.
The males, who did not know one another, had been each receiving therapy for COVID-19, in accordance to the division.
“The suspect became upset when the victim started to pray. He then struck the victim with an oxygen tank,” authorities stated within the launch. The sufferer died from his accidents the subsequent day.
California faces ‘darkest days’:COVID-19 cases surge, pushing hospital staff to the breaking point
Martinez is about to seem in court docket Dec. 28, authorities stated, and his bail has been set at $1 million.
Los Angeles County has emerged as a hotbed of COVID-19 infections. The Los Angeles Department of Public Health on Wednesday reported 145 deaths from COVID-19, the best single-day quantity for the reason that starting of the pandemic.
The surge has compelled hospitals to start planning for the growing chance of rationing care to critically ailing sufferers due to personnel and gear limitations.
Los Angeles County introduced a brand new stay-at-home order earlier this month, however a brand new consultant survey out of the University of Southern California’s Center for Social and Economic Research discovered that 30% of residents are defying the order.
The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday evening that California had become the first state to surpass 2 million coronavirus cases, citing a county-by-county tally. During a Monday press convention, Gov. Gavin Newsom stated the state had recorded 525,000 circumstances within the earlier two weeks.
