Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown announced the plea and sentencing of Obiageriaku Iheanacho, 36, of Baltimore, for the death of 75-year-old Ellsworth Johnson-Bey. Iheanacho pleaded guilty to first degree assault and abuse of a vulnerable adult in the first degree for her role in the assault and subsequent death of Mr. Johnson-Bey. Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Schiffer sentenced Iheanacho to 25 years of incarceration, with all but seven years suspended. Upon her release, Iheanacho will be placed on five years of supervised probation during which she will be prohibited from caring for vulnerable adults. Iheanacho was an agency Geriatric Nursing Assistant (GNA) assigned to Autumn Lake Health Care Post Acute Care Center in Baltimore City when she was captured on video pushing Mr. Johnson-Bey, a dementia patient, to the ground on May 15, 2022. Mr. Johnson-Bey was taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he was diagnosed with a left hip fracture. He was treated at the hospital and returned to the facility a few weeks later. Although attempts were made at physical therapy, Mr. Johnson-Bey never got out of bed again. He eventually contracted pneumonia, developed blood clots in his lungs due to his inactivity, and was diagnosed with COVID-19. Mr. Johnson-Bey passed away at a local hospital on September 5, 2022. Iheanacho was later charged on January 19, 2023, by the Baltimore City Police Department.
