YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — A Mahoning County grand Thursday indicted an 83-year-old man for the 2019 beating death of an 89-year-old man in a Belmont Avenue nursing home.
Horace Landers, 83, faces charges of murder and felonious assault for the Aug. 6, 2019 death of Watson Wilcox, a patient at the Windsor House nursing home.
Wilcox, who had Alzheimer’s Disease and other ailments, was found bleeding on the floor of his room July 24, 2019. Landers, who also Alzheimer’s, was in his room and had blood on his knuckles and slippers, reports said.
Reports said Landers was interviewed by detectives and could not recall anything that happened.
Wilcox was treated at St. Elizabeth Health Center for blunt force injuries, then transferred back to Windsor House for hospice treatment before he died in the nursing home.
A coroner’s report released Tuesday ruled the death a homicide.
Assistant Prosecutor Mike Yacovone, who presented the case to the grand jury, acknowledged that Landers has Alzheimer’s but added that charges still need to be filed for the death of Wilcox.
Yacovone said it will be up to a judge to determine if Landers has any sort of issues that would make him incompetent or competent to stand trial.
Windsor House has refused to comment.