STUART, Fla. — According to a lawsuit filed in January, Wallace Server, 92, struck his roommate Gene Parnell, 87, at the Inspiritás of Stuart in November 2023.
According to the lawsuit, Parnell was inside his room at the assisted living facility, when paramedics found him badly injured and laying next to a golf club.
A club, police said, Wallace Server used to beat his roommate.
Parnell died 11 days after the attack.
The lawyer filing suit on behalf of Parnell's widow was asked why the facility would allow a 92-year-old man, in an assisted living facility that helps patients with dementia, to have a set of golf clubs in his room.
"There'd be no reason for it," West Palm Beach attorney Nicholas Maniotis said. "It's very disturbing and perplexing why they left this gentleman with golf clubs in his room."
Parnell's wife sued Server. However, he died this week in the Martin County Jail as he awaited trial on manslaughter charges.
Maniotis also issued a notice to sue Retirement Unlimited, Inc., which owns Inspiritás of Stuart, because of Server's record as a patient in other facilities.
"If they had done their investigation, they would have realized that Mr. Server had aggressive tendencies in his prior facility," Maniotis added.
WPTV tried to contact Inspiritás of Stuart for comment, but the assisted living center is now closed.
Investigative reporter Dave Bohman called and left a message with Retirement Unlimited, whose webpage claims it owns 57 nursing homes in the United States. The calls have not been returned.
"She went to see Gene two or three times a week," Maniotis said of Parnell's wife.
He said she struggles to cope with her husband's death.
"No one would expect to all of a sudden get a call and learn your spouse has now been beaten in the manner that he was beaten," he added.
