Senior citizen beaten to death

WESLACO - An 84-year-old man was beaten to death in his bed at a nursing home, police said.

Raul Saldivar was in his bed at the Retama Manor Nursing Center, 721 S. Airport Drive in Weslaco, about 11:10 p.m. Friday when another patient entered his quarters and began hitting him in the head with a metal medical instrument, according to a Weslaco police statement.

Retama Manor staff told police that Genovevo Rivera, 48, said he believed someone else was in his room and bed, police said.

But Saldivar was in his correct room and bed and Rivera was in the wrong wing of Retama Manor, police said. Rivera appeared "very irate" and swung the medical equipment at a Weslaco police officer when authorities arrived, police said.

Police were able to subdue him, Weslaco police spokesman David Molina said.

Emergency responders treated Saldivar after arriving at the scene and then took him late Friday to Knapp Medical Center in Weslaco for further treatment. He was later transferred to Valley Baptist Medical Center in Harlingen to receive treatment for a serious skull fracture, but he died once he was there, Molina said.

Rivera was taken to a mental health facility in Harlingen and did not face any criminal charges as of late Tuesday. Whether he suffered from any mental disabilities prior to Friday's assault remained under investigation by police, Molina said.

Investigators are expected to turn their case over to the Hidalgo County district attorney to decide whether Rivera should face criminal charges, Molina said.

Katie Potts, the administrator at Retama Manor Nursing Center, declined to be interviewed for this story but offered to provide a written statement. The Monitor had not received a statement as of press time Tuesday.

Retama Manor scored 56 out of 100 - with 100 being the best - on the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services' quality reporting system for long-term care providers. The statewide average for nursing facilities that accept Medicaid and Medicare is 60 out of 100.

The 120-bed facility's last inspection was Sept. 18, when state inspectors noted seven health and two life safety deficiencies - fewer than the Texas average.

Inspectors noted the nursing home "did not provide care in a way that keeps or builds each resident's dignity and self-respect" and that the facility "failed to obtain and provide drugs as needed or use the services of a licensed pharmacist."

The home also "did not immediately tell the resident, doctor, and a family member if: the resident is injured, there is a major change in resident's physical (or) mental health, there is a need to alter treatment significantly, or the resident must be transferred or discharged."