MUNSTER, IN - A woman in her fifties who is a former nurse's aide is facing multiple felony charges after allegedly attacking multiple patients, including a 95-year-old woman who suffered a fatal stroke just a few days later.
The woman, 54-year-old Denise Beard, has been charged with one count of neglect of a dependent resulting in death and four counts of battery against a disabled person following a series of alleged incidents at two different care facilities, Law & Crime reported.
A probable cause affidavit states that the investigation centered on the Munster Med Inn, where a registered nurse reported hearing "screaming" coming from a patient's room late on the evening of December 14, 2025.
The nurse entered the room to find Beard pushing 95-year-old Laura Stump in a wheelchair too close to the side of the bed. The maneuver allegedly resulted in skin being torn from the elderly woman's arm and hand. Beard had reportedly been moved to that floor earlier in the evening following a dispute with a co-worker.
When Stump's daughter arrived at the facility later that night, her mother claimed Beard had punched her, grabbed her arm and shook her repeatedly.
Court documents showed that Beard allegedly got in the 95-year-old woman's face and stated, "You're a racist old white b*itch," and "You don't like Blacks or Mexicans." Stump reportedly looked at Beard and said, "You hurt me. You called me names and you tore my skin."
Two days after the violent encounter, Stump suffered what was described as a "debilitating" stroke. She died just a few days later on December 23. As investigators looked into the December 14 shift, more alleged victims came forward. A woman who had lived at the facility for 10 years alleged Beard called her a "smelly b*tch" and punched her in the forehead.
Beard then allegedly began slapping the woman's roommate. During the shift, Beward was reportedly overheard saying, "I don't know why I do this stupid job.
An 80-year-old male resident also accused Beard of abuse, claiming she flipped him off and threw a water bottle in his face when he struggled to follow her instructions to lower his bed.
The investigation revealed that Beard had been terminated from the South Shore Health and Rehabilitation Center in Gary just two months prior. Beard had been suspended two weeks into that job for calling a resident "lazy" and stating that "if he fell from the bed, she wasn't going to pick his big a** up."
On October 6, 2025, a 95-year-old resident at the South Shore facility was found crying with a welt on her cheek and a swollen lip. The woman accused Beard of repeatedly striking her. When confronted, Beard allegedly denied the claims but became combative.
Shalom Menora, CEO of Sterling Healthcare, said that Beard was immediately suspended and then fired when she refused to cooperate. "We reported the allegation to the state and started an investigation immediately," he said. "Since it was in a patient room, there are no cameras and since she was the only person there, there was no way to verify anything."
Beard is currently being held on a $40,000 bond.
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