The visuals from the viral video of Jadon Hayden beating an elderly man in a nursing home are difficult to forget. That old man turned out to be a veteran named Norman Bledsoe. Hayden was sent to the nursing home after testing positive for COVID-19, as part of a Michigan health department program that sent certain COVID-positive patients to quarantine in local nursing homes.
The footage of Bledsoe’s assault was vivid and unsettling. “See this b-ch -ss n—-r here?” shouted the suspect, snatching the camera and pointing it towards the victim’s bloodied face. “Get out of my bed, n—-r.” The guy took a brief stop to clean the old man’s blood away with a white linen. “F–k wrong with you?” Hayden questioned immediately before the video stopped.
The Army veteran died two months after the horrible incident, prompting many to wonder if the assault had a role in his death. After the assault, his eating habits went awry, and he lost a significant amount of weight, Norman Bledsoe’s nephew, Kevin Bledsoe stated. The incident left Norman Bledsoe with four broken fingers, fractured ribs, and a broken jaw, and it drew condemnation from former President Donald Trump in the White House.
Hayden was faced with two charges of assault, larceny, and stealing a financial transaction device at the time of his arrest, according to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office. After years of waiting to hear when Hayden’s trial would begin, the judge determined to drop all charges.
Marty Hayden, Jadon Hayden’s father, said that his son is autistic, has schizophrenia, and has a history of assaultive conduct. The court stated that Hayden was incapable to stand trial. He shouldn’t be in prison, Jadon Hayden’s father stated, adding that if his son had been arrested and sentenced to prison, it would only have exacerbated his mental health problems.
At the time of the incident, Kevin Bledsoe had harsh words for his uncle’s assailant. They’ll crush him like a grape. It is just a question of time. It’s simply a matter of time, said the victim’s nephew. It’s unknown whether the family feels differently now that they know Hayden was brought to the nursing home due to Michigan policy, and many blame Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for the tragic situation.
In the instance of Jadon Hayden, prosecutors ensured that the case was dismissed without prejudice, which implies that they can file charges against him at a later date. If Hayden continues to act inappropriately and endangers the public, the charges can be re-filed. However, the victim’s family has launched a lawsuit against the nursing facility, which many believe should not have placed a schizophrenic young person in the same room as an old patient.
That may be of little consolation to Norman Bledsoe’s family, who had to see their loved one suffer torture and then die a short time after. While no one wishes to see a really mentally ill person go to jail because he has no recall or control over his conduct, society also does not support employing the insanity defense if the person completely knows right and wrong. What we can all agree on is that both the nursing facility and the Michigan health officials who set the policy that permitted this to occur should have known better.
