Three employees of an aged care facility in North Carolina, USA, have been accused of running a makeshift fight club and encouraging physical altercations between residents with dementia after a tip-off to local police.
Marilyn Latish McKey, 32, Tonacia Yvonne Tyson, 20, and Taneshia Deshawn Jordan, 26, stand accused of watching, filming, and encouraging between two female residents in their 70’s and have been charged with assault on an individual with a disability.
It is alleged that the three accused women watched and recorded the fight between the two residents on their phone and shouted words of encouragement to spur the fight on, despite the fact that one of the residents was screaming for help while being assaulted.
According to accounts, one of the three women can be heard telling one of fighting residents to stop screaming, while another one yells “punch her in the face.”
Shockingly, one of the accused can also be heard asking the staff member who is filming the incident to ensure that the phone is actually recording so that she can send her the footage after the fight.
Although none of the residents suffered serious injuries from the altercations, authorities were told that there were some other videos of assaults that were seen on social media, but those videos have not yet been located by authorities.
The three accused women were fired from the Danby House assisted living and memory-care facility after management became aware of the serious allegations.
The Danby house facility received multiple letters from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services outlining multiple violations concerning patient care.
Danby House has since been suspended from taking in new residents.
A spokesperson for Danby House has revealed that administrators have been working closely with local police to ensure that justice is served and claiming that incidents like these are opportunities to improve upon the standard of care.
The three women involved are currently out on bond and face charges that come with a maximum penalty of close to six months in jail.
The trio will face court on November 14.
