Nursing home fires worker accused of beating patient

Marla Bean, 51, also facing criminal charges

SAN ANTONIO – Marla Bean, 51, has been fired from her job at Esplanade Gardens, the Converse nursing home where she allegedly beat a resident who suffers from Alzheimer's disease, according to one of the facility's administrators.

Sylvia Garcia, an assistant manager, said that Esplanade Gardens is "cooperating with authorities to the fullest extent" as they investigate the alleged crime.

Bean was arrested Tuesday on a charge of injury to the elderly.

An arrest affidavit stated that the daughter of the 77-year-old victim installed a camera in her mother's room after noticing some unexplained injuries on her.

Police said on Jan. 24, the camera recorded Bean as she slapped the older woman in her face and hit her on her body, then threw her down on a bed.

Detectives believe the assault continued in the victim's bathroom, according to Rex Rheiner, assistant chief of the Converse Police Department.

"The door was closed for 22 seconds, but when the door was opened, (the victim) was on the ground," he said.

The woman was left with a back injury, the affidavit stated.

Rheiner said in an incident report that she wrote later, Bean lied and said that the woman had fallen down.

"It's a sad situation when you trust somebody to handle your family and then they end up getting assaulted or abused," he said.

Had it not been for the video, Rheiner said, detectives may not have been able to build a case.

"It helped 100 percent," he said. "When the detectives viewed the video, it was pretty cut and dry."

An out-of-state relative of the elderly woman who was contacted by phone said she was sad and disgusted by what happened. She said she fears that other residents of the home also may have been victimized by Bean.

Rheiner said, at this time, it appears to be an isolated case, and that his department has not received any additional complaints.


About the Author:

Katrina Webber joined KSAT 12 in December 2009. She reports for Good Morning San Antonio. Katrina was born and raised in Queens, NY, but after living in Gulf Coast states for the past decade, she feels right at home in Texas. It's not unusual to find her singing karaoke or leading a song with her church choir when she's not on-air.