Inset: Dennis Newman. Background: The Wisconsin nursing home where Dennis Newman was allegedly pushed, causing a traumatic brain injury, according to a lawsuit (WTMJ/YouTube).
A 72-year-old Wisconsin man suffered a traumatic brain injury after a nursing home employee allegedly shoved him to the floor — an incident the facility initially described to his family as him having “just slightly slid off a chair” and “bumped his head a little bit,” according to a newly filed lawsuit.
Dennis Newman’s widow, Julie Newman, is now pursuing the case in civil court after a mistake by prosecutors resulted in the dismissal of the employee’s criminal case earlier this year. The worker had faced a felony charge of physical abuse of an elder person for allegedly pushing Dennis Newman in April 2025 at Waters Edge Health & Rehabilitation Center in Kenosha.
Court records reviewed by Law&Crime show Julie Newman sued the nursing home and its operator on July 10, accusing them of responsibility for Dennis Newman’s death through claims that include wrongful death and negligent hiring and training.
“No human could do that, even to a pet, or any human have that happen to them. That should never happen to anyone,” Julie Newman told local NBC affiliate WTMJ. She said a Waters Edge employee called her after the incident and allegedly minimized the severity of what had occurred.
“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 said, adding that what she later heard from police and prosecutors painted a far more alarming picture.
“While we were driving there, the district attorney called me and said, ‘Your husband was severely abused,’” Julie Newman recalled. “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 the traumatic brain injury Dennis Newman sustained marked the beginning of a decline in his condition and ultimately contributed 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.
