
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - The family of a severely disabled 22-year-old claim in federal court that the staff of an upstate New York residential center beat him with a stick, neglected him and left him malnourished before he died of pneumonia last year.
Court documents name five staff at the O.D. Heck Developmental Center in Niskayuna, saying they verbally and physically abused the resident identified in court papers only as K.C. who was in their care and had unexplained cuts and bruises when taken to the hospital.
Attorneys for the family also represented the parents of 13-year-old Jonathan Carey, who was smothered in 2007 by a Heck aide, which resulted in a $5 million state settlement.
A spokesman for state Office for People with Developmental Disabilities says they cannot comment on pending litigation.
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