Salem Village Sued Over Beating Death, Coroner Rules It 'Undetermined'

JOLIET, IL — A matter of days after Salem Village notified state of Illinois health care facility regulators that it is closing down its nursing home and rehabilitation center at 1314 Rowell Ave., the business was slapped with a civil wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of Michael Pappas.

Friday's lawsuit was filed by The Collins Law Firm in Naperville against Salem Village and Rehabilitation Center. The lawsuit surrounds the Nov. 17 death of Michael Pappas.

Joliet police initially arrested fellow Salem Village resident William "Bill" Paschall, age 71, on a charge of first-degree murder.

"Prior to November 17, 2023, Paschall was known to Salem Village staff as a resident with anger issues and a 'time bomb' who engaged in threatening, erratic and abusive behavior to staff and other Salem Village residents," the wrongful death lawsuit outlined. "In the presence of Salem Village staff, Paschall threatened Michael Pappas and then grabbed Michael out of his seated walker and began punching Michael in the head, knocking him to the ground.

"Once Michael was on the floor of the laundry room, Paschall, again, in the presence of two Salem Village staff members, grabbed Michael's walker and began repeatedly striking Michael's head and body with the walker," the wrongful death lawsuit said. "Michael began experiencing seizure-like symptoms, and Salem Village staff called the Joliet Fire Department."

The Joliet Fire Department sent an ambulance to Salem Village. Joliet's paramedics tried CPR on Pappas, but he had no signs of life on the floor of the sixth-floor laundry room.

The negligence lawsuit contends that Salem Village failed to properly monitor Pappas, failed to properly monitor Paschall, failed to keep Pappas safe from harm, failed to employ the use of safety measures to prevent assaults and failed to intervene while Paschall assaulted Pappas.

In addition to that, Salem Village failed to properly train its employees on preventing assaults, failed to properly supervise its employees, failed to take adequate steps to protect Pappas from assaults, failed to control its residents and "as a direct and proximate result of one or more of defendant's acts and or omissions, Michael Pappas suffered serious personal injury which resulted in his death," declared the plaintiff's attorney, Edward Manzke.

In a strange set of events, the Office of Will County Coroner Laurie Summers chose not to rule Pappas' death inside Salem Village as a homicide; instead, the coroner's agency is listing his death as undetermined.

Because of that, the Will County State's Attorney's Office and Joliet police chose to downgrade Paschall's criminal charges from first-degree murder to aggravated battery.

Joliet police have said they no longer classify Pappas' death as a homicide, either.

Friday's lawsuit at the Will County Courthouse seeks a judgment in favor of the plaintiffs in excess of $50,000 and "for such other relief as this court deems just," attorney Manzke declared.