Two ex-workers charged in World War II veteran’s 2017 death

Published 4:09 pm Tuesday, July 10, 2018

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Two former employees of a Mississippi veterans home have been charged with manslaughter in the 2017 death of a 93-year-old World War II veteran.

Police charged 25-year-old Jeanne Dunn of Oxford and 41-year-old Bridget Austin of Abbeville with culpable negligence manslaughter.

Oxford Police Chief Joey East says investigators long suspected Dunn and Austin had dropped Durley Bratton in April 2017 and then put him back in bed without telling anyone, leaving him to die of his injuries.

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However, East says investigators felt they didn’t have enough evidence until autopsy results were returned on July 2, concluding Bratton died of blunt-force trauma.

Dunn was arrested that day. Austin was arrested Monday.

Both are jailed on $250,000 bond. East says he doesn’t know if either woman has a lawyer.