The man charged with stabbing an elderly patient in an Aurora hospital will appear in a Kane County court Thursday for a bond hearing.
39-year-old Darrell Franklin is accused of attacking a 78-year-old woman who was sharing a room at Provena Mercy Hospital with his mother Tuesday night.
Police Sgt. Robb Wallers told the Daily Herald Franklin stabbed the woman multiple times with a butter knife. The 78-year-old was left with cuts to her face and shoulders, a broken nose and a fractured eye socket.
Wallers says they’re still investigating what triggered the attack. But the investigation so far has revealed Franklin's son was recently killed and he may have learned about his death just before he attacked the woman, reports the Daily Herald.
Hospital spokesman Heather Gates says because the hospital was so busy Tuesday night, the stabbing victim had to share a room with another person, which is typically not the case at Provena Mercy.
"Despite having the ability to have two people in a room, it actually is not that typical," Gates said told the Daily Herald. "It just so happened that on the unit this incident occurred on, we had a large number of patients that night.”
Gates said the 78-year-old grandmother was listed in stable condition Thursday. When questions of security at Provena Mercy were raised, Gates said the hospital doesn’t plan to change it’s visitation guidelines.
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"This particular incident was unpreventable because of the nature of the attack," Gates told the Daily Herald. "The perpetrator apparently didn't bring a weapon into the hospital that we could have screened for. And visitation is part of the recovery process and holistic care that we provide to all our patients. This incident was very atypical. I'm not sure what could've been done procedurally to prevent this incident.”
