77-year-old veteran with dementia punched in face by employee at state-run home

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A 77-year-old veteran with dementia who was living in a state-run home for war veterans in East Feliciana Parish was punched in the face and hospitalized by an employee who has since been fired. The Veterans Home did not notify the family or transport the veteran to a hospital until three days after the incident, and family members say they're outraged by the lapse.

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Faul said she got a call on May 1 notifying her that her father was being taken to the hospital. She said staff told her he was brought to the hospital because of swelling feet and because his "eye was leaking" and they wanted him to see a neurologist.

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Kearia Wright, 27, of Ethel, was booked into East Feliciana Parish Prison for simple battery of persons with infirmities. According to the police report, two witnesses saw Wright rear back and punch Craft in the face with a "closed fist." One employee told investigators that on the night of the incident Wright reported that Craft was found in a room he wasn't supposed to be in and tried to remove him. "Craft comes out of the room and was swinging/moving his arms in a punching motion non aggressively towards Wright," the report said. The witness said she saw "Wright lean back and punch Craft in the face" and then "Craft grabbed his face with both hands and covered his eye."

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