Ex-offender Ellsworth Johnson-Bey advocated for city youth, helping them steer clear of the rough side of Baltimore. But the fatal blow for “Brother Bey" came not from the streets, but from a nursing aide who pushed him down in a hallway of the long term care facility where he was living. Within four months, he died of complications from his broken hip. The Brew wrote about Bey's determined daughter, who sought to learn the truth about what happened that day. And we took our own deep dive, finding a case study of corporate blame-dodging - a spokesman said the company was not responsible and pointed a finger at the third-party staffing company. After fining the owners, the state agency charged with preventing more such incidents turned a blind to similar abuses in the same facility. The aide was criminally charged and last year pleaded guilty to first degree assault. As for the Maryland Department of Health, it remains to be seen whether the regulatory flaws highlighted by The Brew’s reporting and the victim’s daughter’s lawsuit, will lead to meaningful reform.
