Inset: Dennis Newman. Background: The Wisconsin nursing home where Dennis Newman allegedly endured a violent shove resulting in a severe brain injury (WTMJ/YouTube).
In Wisconsin, a troubling incident unfolded when a 72-year-old man experienced a violent shove by a nursing home staff member, which led to a traumatic brain injury. According to a lawsuit, the facility attempted to minimize the event by suggesting he “simply slid off a chair” and just “slightly bumped his head.”
Julie Newman, the widow of Dennis Newman, has turned to the civil courts in search of justice after a prosecutorial error resulted in the dismissal of the criminal charges against the nursing home employee. Earlier this year, the worker faced a felony charge for allegedly assaulting Dennis Newman at Waters Edge Health & Rehabilitation Center in Kenosha in April 2025.
Legal documents obtained by Law&Crime indicate that on July 10, Julie Newman initiated a lawsuit against the nursing home and its management, alleging that the employee’s actions directly contributed to her husband’s demise. The suit includes accusations of wrongful death and claims regarding negligent hiring and training practices.
“No one should experience such cruelty. It’s unthinkable for both humans and animals,” Julie Newman expressed to local NBC affiliate WTMJ. She recounted that a call from a worker at Waters Edge had initially downplayed the severity of the incident involving her husband.
“A nurse that I didn’t know called me and said that he had just slightly slid off a chair to the side and bumped his head a little bit, and so to be safe they were going to take him to the hospital,” Julie Newman recalled, noting how prosecutors and police reported a much different story.
“While we were driving there, the district attorney called me and said, ‘Your husband was severely abused,'” Julie Newman explained. “She pushed him so hard that he flew 10 feet, according to the police, too, when they measured from the area pushed to where he landed.”
Julie Newman told WTMJ that Dennis Newman suffered a traumatic brain injury that caused his health to deteriorate and ultimately led to his death six months later.
“He couldn’t sleep, he couldn’t eat,” she said.
The worker who was charged in connection with Dennis Newman’s fall had her charges dismissed after a prosecutor failed to properly provide evidence showing that Dennis was over the required age of 60 for the elder abuse charge. Dennis was 72, according to his wife.
“Everybody’s jaw dropped,” Julie Newman said about the day in court when the charges were dropped. “And the abuser laughed.”
Julie Newman’s civil attorney, Kevin Demet, told WTMJ, “They could introduce the birth certificate; they could have introduced any witness to say that he was over age 60.”
Julie Newman said she wants to hold Waters Edge accountable “to protect the next person” who might be a victim of abuse there. “And maybe get Dennis a little bit of justice,” she concluded.
The civil complaint alleges that Waters Edge failed to protect Dennis Newman despite repeated warning signs, misrepresented the incident, and failed to properly care for him, the Kenosha County Eye reports.
Attempts by WTMJ to reach Waters Edge for comment have been unsuccessful. The worker told the outlet that she did nothing wrong and ultimately beat the case.
The post ‘He flew 10 feet’: Nursing home worker shoved 72-year-old so hard he suffered traumatic brain injury and died, facility claimed he ‘slid off’ chair and ‘bumped his head a little bit,’ suit says first appeared on Law & Crime.