A COVID-19 patient at a California hospital allegedly hit and killed his roommate with an oxygen tank because he was “angry when the victim started to pray,” the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Wednesday.
What We Know:
- Jesse Martinez, 37, has been arrested on an alleged hate crime murder and elder abuse, the sheriff’s office stated in a news release. The victim, an 82-year-old Hispanic man, shared a two-person room with Martinez at the Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster, located in northern Los Angeles County. According to the department, the men, who didn’t know each other, both received treatment for COVID-19
- The initial assault occurred on Thursday, December 17, 2020 at approximately 9:45 a.m.
“The suspect became upset when the victim started to pray. He then struck the victim with an oxygen tank,” officials stated in the release.
- The name of the 82-year-old victim, who died the following day from his injuries, was reserved, awaiting the notification of his relatives.
- Martinez will be appearing in court on December 28, authorities stated, and his bail is set at $1 million.
- Los Angeles County has risen as a breeding ground of COVID-19 infections. On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Department of Public Health announced 145 deaths from COVID-19, the most significant single-day number since the beginning of the pandemic.
- The wave has required hospitals to make plans for the increasing probability of rationing care to critically ill patients because of personnel and equipment restrictions.
- Los Angeles County declared a new stay-at-home order earlier this month. Still, a recent representative survey out of the University of Southern California’s Center for Social and Economic Research discovered that 30% of residents defy the order.
According to Johns Hopkins University data on Wednesday night, California became the first state to exceed 2 million cases. A total only reached by seven countries.
