A male nurse on staff at a Texarkana nursing home in April is accused of injuring an 87-year-old man suffering from dementia.
Billy Ray Ramey, 62, appeared before 202nd District Judge John Tidwell for a preindictment hearing Monday afternoon with Texarkana lawyer Jeff Harrelson. Ramey is set to return to court July 1.
Ramey was arrested after he allegedly caused the man to fall April 3 at Heritage Plaza Nursing Center in Texarkana, Texas. The resident was allegedly holding onto the wheels of his wheelchair so staff could not wheel him back into his room. Ramey was allegedly called to help with the situation. According to a probable cause affidavit, three witnesses reported that Ramey shook the chair as the man stood, causing him to fall, and that Ramey refused to help the man from the floor after he went down.
Ramey allegedly said before and during the incident that he was not going to “deal with the S.O.B. jacking around tonight” both before and during the incident. The elderly man allegedly suffered a large skin tear to his right forearm when he fell to the floor.
Injury to an elderly person is a state jail felony punishable by six months to two years in a state jail.
