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Christel Yardley / Stuff
A fatal attack took the life of a patient at a US hospital (file photo)
A Covid-19 patient at a US hospital allegedly struck and killed his roommate with an oxygen tank because he was “upset when the victim started praying,” the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Wednesday.
Jesse Martinez, 37, has been arrested on suspicion of murder for a hate crime and elder abuse, the sheriff’s office said in a news release. The victim, an 82-year-old Hispanic man, shared a two-person room with Martinez at Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster, north Los Angeles County.
The men, who did not know each other, were receiving treatment for Covid-19, according to the department.
“The suspect was upset when the victim began to pray. He then hit the victim with an oxygen tank,” authorities said in the statement. The victim died of his injuries the next day.
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Martinez will appear in court on Dec. 29, authorities said, and his bail was set at $ 1 million.
Los Angeles County has become a hotbed for Covid-19 infections. The Los Angeles Department of Public Health reported 145 deaths from Covid-19 on Wednesday, the highest number in a single day since the start of the pandemic.
The increase has forced hospitals to begin planning for the growing possibility of rationing care for critically ill patients due to staff and equipment limitations.
Los Angeles County announced a new stay-at-home order earlier this month, but a new representative survey from the Center for Social and Economic Research at the University of Southern California found that 30 percent of residents are defying the order.
This week, California became the first state to surpass 2 million cases, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, a grim marker reached only by seven countries.
During a news conference, Governor Gavin Newsom said the state had recorded 525,000 cases in the previous two weeks.
USA TODAY
