Nursing aide charged after allegedly slapping resident at Bluffton care facility
A nursing aide at a Bluffton care facility was arrested for allegedly slapping a resident in the face, according to the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office.
Latoya Latrell Fennell, 49, of Early Branch, was charged Jan. 22 with abuse of a vulnerable adult and third-degree assault and battery, Beaufort County jail records show. She was released the following afternoon on a $5,000 cash bond.
Fennell was a certified nursing aide at The Addison of Bluffton, where on Oct. 31 she allegedly “knowingly and intentionally” slapped a resident in the assisted living facility, according to a press release from the attorney general’s office.
Staff promptly reported the incident to Bluffton police and have fully complied with investigators at the attorney general’s Vulnerable Adults and Medicaid Provider Fraud unit, the release says.
Abuse of a vulnerable adult is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison or a fine up to $5,000 under South Carolina law. Third-degree assault and battery is a misdemeanor carrying a maximum punishment of 30 days in prison or a $500 fine.
The case will be prosecuted by the attorney general’s office.
Reached by phone on Thursday, an employee at The Addison of Bluffton would not say whether Fennell still worked at the facility. A supervisor did not immediately respond to an email with additional questions.
Located off Bluffton Parkway, The Addison of Bluffton offers assisted living, memory care and respite care services, according to its website.
Under South Carolina law, a vulnerable adult is defined as someone 18 or older whose physical or mental condition “substantially impairs the person from adequately providing for his or her own care or protection.”
