Nursing home patient dies after attacked by roommate

Eunice Kentner died at a Nashville hospital Tuesday, a day after the attack at Palmyra Health Care.

A nurse’s aide told Montgomery County sheriff’s deputies that she heard a noise in Kentner’s room Monday and found Em Moeun, 57, striking another roommate with Kentner’s cane.

The aide then noticed that Kentner also had been beaten, a deputy’s report said.

The cause of Kentner’s death is still under investigation, but authorities are treating it as a homicide.

Kentner was sent by ambulance to Gateway Medical Center with bruises and arm pain, Sheriff’s Sgt. Brian Prentice said.

“The way I understand it is that she may have had a massive heart attack and was flown by LifeFlight medical helicopter to Nashville’s Vanderbilt University Medical Center,” Prentice said.

Moeun, who had moved to the Clarksville home from Pleasant View Health Care in Bolivar in August, was admitted to Middle Tennessee Mental Health Institute for an evaluation, which could take up to 60 days.

Sue Morris, Kentner’s niece, questioned whether the nursing home workers did an adequate job.

“Where were the workers when all that hollering was going on?” Morris said. “If someone is yelling out, you’re supposed to go take care of them.”

Cyndi Milenski, president of Palmyra Health Care, released a statement Wednesday saying the sheriff’s office investigation did support the contention “that a resident died as a result of a beating by another resident.”