Defendant dies before conclusion of Joliet nursing home fatal attack case

A former Joliet nursing home resident has died before the conclusion of a Will County case accusing him of battering a fellow resident who died in 2023.

On Jan. 20, William Paschall, 72, of Chicago, died from high blood pressure and diabetes, according to his death certificate filed in court. He had been a resident of the Aperion Care Lakeshore facility in the city.

Paschall was facing charges of aggravated battery in connection with the 2023 death of Michael Pappas, 61, at Salem Village Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Joliet.

The Will County case against Paschall was dismissed on Feb. 18.

Paschall’s attorneys had been waiting for months on a decision from Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak on whether she would grant their request to dismiss the indictment.

The judge did not deliver her decision because Paschall could not make his court appearances.

Paschall had been arrested on a charge of first-degree murder of Pappas. But a grand jury later indicted him only with an aggravated battery charge.

Prosecutors said in a court filing that preliminary autopsy results listed Pappas’ cause of death as undetermined.

After Paschall’s arrest, he was held in the Will County jail under the SAFE-T Act. An appellate court ruling later led to his release from jail.

Karen Turkic, Pappas’ sister, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Salem Village Nursing and Rehabilitation Center over the incident. The case resulted in a $2 million judgment against the nursing home.

The Illinois Department of Public Health had also issued a $50,000 fine against Salem Village following their investigation of the incident.

Salem Village ceased operations several months after Pappas' death but the shuttered building still remains at 1314 Rowell Ave.

An attorney for a minority shareholder for Salem Village linked the growing financial difficulties of the nursing home with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.