Suit: ER Nurse Sent ‘Outrageous' Tweets of Homicide Victim's Room

24-year-old Mikal Johnson died of a gunshot wound to the chest at Mount Sinai Hospital in April 2015

The mother of a man shot last year in Logan Square has filed a lawsuit against the Southwest Side hospital where he was treated before he died, claiming an emergency room nurse shared inappropriate information on Twitter, including a photo of the bloodied room where medical staff tried to save him.

The “degrading, dehumanizing and outrageous” tweets were sent while 24-year-old Mikal Johnson was being treated for a gunshot wound to the chest at Mount Sinai Hospital early April 8, 2015, according to the suit filed by his mother Aisha Bilal Thursday in Cook County Circuit Court.

The suit cites an unspecified number of “insulting” tweets, including one with a photo that Bilal claims shows soaked bandages and a pool of blood in the room where Johnson was treated. A screenshot of the alleged tweet is included in the lawsuit, but it is not searchable online.

The hospital and nurse are named as defendants. A spokeswoman for Sinai Health System said the suit had not yet been served and declined to comment Friday evening.

The Twitter account that is named in the suit does not claim any affiliation with Mount Sinai. It had nearly 2,000 followers as of Friday night.

Bilal claims the nurse used it to “recklessly” make accusations that their family attacked staff members. None of the tweets from April 8 name Johnson, but the suit claims they “were reasonably identifiable as referring to Mikal Johnson or his family.”

Johnson’s mother alleges the tweets violated “a fundamental ethical obligation of a nurse,” the suit says.

The two-count suit for negligence and emotional distress is seeking more than $100,000 in damages.

Johnson, who lived in the 1200 block of West Belden, starred as a running back for Rolling Meadows High School in the northwest suburbs and had made the cut on a semi-pro team shortly before his death, family members said. He was close to degree at Columbia College and planned to become a history teacher.

Johnson and a friend had gotten into a fight with two other people in the 2700 block of West Bloomingdale when 24-year-old Joshua Rodriguez opened fire, according to Cook County prosecutors. Rodriguez was arrested and charged with murder about five months after the shooting and remains held without bond at the Cook County Jail. He has pleaded not guilty and the case is pending, court records show.

Copyright CHIST - SunTimes
Contact Us