Woman escaped nursing home and fell, leading to decline and death — $342,220 verdict

Type of action: Negligence and tort

Injuries alleged: Multiple broken ribs, facial fracture and wrongful death

Case name: Galito, Administrator of the Estate of Marie Shields v. Hampton SNF Operations, LLC

Court: Hampton Circuit Court

Case number: CL23001327-00

Tried before: Jury

Name of judge: Judge Corry N. Smith

Date resolved: Oct. 2, 2025

Special damages: Approximately $30,000

Demand: $300,000

Offer: $50,000

Attorney for plaintiff: Carlton F. Bennett, Virginia Beach, The Law Firm of Carlton F. Bennett

Description of case: The decedent, age 79, suffered from advanced dementia but was able to do most of her activities of daily living without assistance. She was admitted to a nursing home in Hampton for a five-day respite stay. She was known to wander the halls and had tried unsuccessfully to escape.

On the fifth day of her stay, the decedent could be seen on a surveillance video sitting in a chair at the nurse’s station after an unsuccessful attempt to escape. She was supposed to be closely monitored by the nursing staff. However, she could be seen standing up and walking down the hallway to her left and then she came back and walked by the camera and nursing staff who were not paying attention to her.

She then walked down a long hallway and through an unlocked door through which she had tried to escape earlier. She descended two flights of stairs and walked about a quarter of a mile into the surrounding neighborhood and fell face forward onto a sidewalk, fracturing her nasal bones and suffering eight rib fractures on her right side.

The nursing home admitted negligence in failing to prevent the elopement and agreed only to pay her emergency room bill. The decedent died less than three months later and Waterview Health denied that her injuries caused her untimely death. Her adult children who cared for her in their homes provided gripping before and after testimony about her decline and her pain and suffering.

Defense experts testified that she was not in pain and did not die as a result of her injuries. The defense’s bifurcation motion failed and the jury was presented with alternative claims of either survivorship damages or wrongful death.

The jury returned its verdict on the survivorship claim for the decedent’s injuries and pain and suffering. Plaintiff’s expert provided compelling testimony linking the fall to the cause of her accelerated decline and death.

[025-T-173]