Watch CBS News

Nurse Dies After Assault At Cape Mental Health Center

POCASSET (CBS) - The death of a nurse at a Cape Cod mental health center may mean new charges for the patient suspected in the crime.

Back in late March, 60-year old Jason Lew, a nurse at the Cape Cod and islands Community Mental Health Center, was assaulted by a patient. Lew's injuries were so serious he was brought to several different hospitals before he died last Friday.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Karen Twomey reports.

Podcast

"There was some kind of an altercation. The nurse who subsequently died was assaulted during the course of the altercation," said Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe.

O'Keefe said the suspect was immediately arraigned on assault charges, but depending on what the medical examiner finds, more charges could follow.

"It was a couple days later that the individual was deceased. So, it's that full sequence of events that is the subject of an investigation to see what, if any, other charges might be appropriate," said O'Keefe.

If the assault is found to have played a role in Lew's death, it would make it the third worker in a local mental health center to have been killed by residents in the past four months.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.