Nursing Home Worker Dies At Hospital After Stabbing
SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE(CBS4) - The janitor of a Southwest Miami-Dade Nursing center died after being stabbed by a visitor at the facility Thursday.
Miami-Dade Police call it a brutal attack and say the suspect attacked the janitor while visiting his brother, who is a patient at the facility.
Police Detective Roy Rutland told CBS4's Peter D'Oench that the attack happened just after 3 p.m. at the Coral Reef Nursing and Rehabilitation Center at Southwest 98th Avenue and Coral Reef Drive.
The victim who has not been identified was rushed to Kendall Regional Medical Center. Rutland said he was stabbed a number of times in the throat and neck. The suspect is in custody.
D'Oench spoke with Rolando Fuentes, a vendor at the facility who knows the victim.
"He was stabbed by someone visiting a family member. I feel bad. I feel terrible. He was stabbed in the neck and he passed out," said Fuentes.
"Do you know why he was stabbed?" asked D'Oench.
"No," said Fuentes, adding that he knew that the victim "did a lot of work at the center cleaning up the rooms and the floors."
"We do know that the subject was in the hallway and he was visiting his brother and he had a large knife," said Rutland. "We think the problem in this case was with the subject and not the victim."
Gloria Triana said her mother lives in the nursing home.
She described the victim, whose name has not been released, as a beloved friend.
"He's a hard worker," she said in Spanish.
Triana said the victim was always kind to patients.
"He told me, 'Today, I put your mother's shoes on'," Triana said, recalling her last conversation with the victim.
She cried as she thought about his family and friends.
Rutland said the suspect walked out of the back of the facility and was arrested by Miami-Dade Police.
He was taken to the Miami-Dade Police Kendall station where he is being questioned by detectives.
Rutland said it is not known what prompted the attack.
Representatives of the Coral Reef Nursing and Rehabilitation Center declined to comment and told all news crews to leave their property.
