A Bronx woman was fatally beaten as she slept in her bed at a New York hospital last month. Cynthia Vann, 55, was undergoing liver treatment when she was attacked in her hospital bed on the night of September 10.
Vann lay in a coma in intensive care before dying on Sept. 27 from blunt force head injuries. Her death is ruled a homicide.
The incident happened at Lincoln Hospital in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx. Hospital officials told Vann’s family the roommate had a history of violent behavior.
“It’s heartbreaking. I’m broken inside,” Vann’s only daughter, Taneisha Vann, told News 12. “She didn’t deserve this. No one deserves to be assaulted at a hospital while you’re sleeping. You’re supposed to feel safe.”
“It’s very difficult. My mom was my support system. She was really all I had.”
Taneisha blamed the hospital for placing a violent patient in her mother’s room.
“I’m angry with the hospital that allowed this situation to happen,” she said.
“She has a birthday coming up on the 9th. She’ll be 56 and that’s difficult as well. It’s just she didn’t deserve that,” Taneisha said.
Taneisha is now planning her mother’s funeral instead of a birthday celebration.
The attacker was not arrested and her name has not been released to the public. She was discharged from the hospital and is on the run.
Taneisha said her mother was a “kind, supportive” woman who had health problems, and was in a vulnerable position.
