Image of male nurse pushing senior woman in a wheelchair in nursing facility

An 83-year-old assisted living resident allegedly was assaulted by a security guard at the Florida facility and subsequently died from his injuries, authorities announced Monday.

The assault occurred at the Atria at Evergreen Woods facility in Brooksville. A weekend security guard, 22-year-old Brian Christopher Murphy, is believed to have beaten 88-year-old Miriam Lepp and 83-year-old Joseph Giambrone with a car jack, according to the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office.

Lepp is recovering. Giambrone never recovered consciousness after the March 27 incident and died from his injuries on Saturday, the Sheriff’s Office stated. 

“We mourn his passing, and we extend our deepest sympathy to the victim’s family,” Atria said in a statement emailed to McKnight’s. Atria is cooperating fully in the investigation of the “tragic and senseless” incident, the company noted.

The authorities said they might now bring murder charges against Murphy, who currently faces two counts of attempted murder. He is being held without bond.

An inquiry is ongoing, but investigators believe Murphy was living in his car and was on drugs at the time of the assault, Sheriff Al Nienhaus told local reporters Monday. He might have been looking for food, Nienhaus added. The sheriff’s office has credited Atria’s on-duty security guard for holding Murphy at bay until police arrived.

Murphy passed a background check and drug test when he was hired about four months before the attack, according to Atria.