The state of Connecticut has paid $2.25 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the husband of Joyce Grayson, the 63-year-old visiting nurse and mother of six who was killed by a registered sex offender in a halfway house in 2023.
The settlement removes the state from the wrongful death lawsuit without admitting any guilt on the part of state, the Department of Corrections, probation department or any state employees for the murder by Michael Reese, a man with a history of violence and mental health issues who the state had under its watch and care.
The suit continues against other defendants including Grayson’s employer.
In his lawsuit filed in May 2024, Ronald Grayson said that the state bore some responsibility for the murder of his wife for allegedly failing to adequately supervise Reese during his time on probation and failing to ensure that the public and nurses treating him were protected from his violent tendencies.
Hartford Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Jane Stewart approved the settlement with the state.
Grayson Attorney Kelly Reardon issued a statement to The Associated Press:
“The family hopes that this settlement demonstrates that the state is taking its involvement with the perpetrator of this horrific crime against Joyce Grayson seriously. Along those lines, as part of the settlement, family members will be meeting with representatives of some of the involved state agencies to discuss ways that these types of crimes can be prevented in the future.”
Employer Defendants
While the settlement closes the wrongful death action against the state, the legal action continues against the late nurse’s employer, as well as the social service agency that ran the halfway house where the killer was staying, and the owner of that house in Willimantic that provided lodging for individuals leaving the correctional system.
On October 28, 2023, Joyce Grayson was sent, alone, by her employer to the house to provide treatment to Reese, a registered sex offender with a violent past and a history of substance abuse and mental illness. While Grayson was administering Reese his medications, she was murdered by Reese, who also attempted to sexually assault her. Investigators said she was strangled and suffered multiple blunt force injuries.
Visiting Nurse’s Killing at Halfway House Renews Pleas for Home Health Care Safety
Reese, who was convicted in 2007 of raping and brutally stabbing a woman, pleaded guilty to Grayson’s murder and has been sentenced to 50 years in prison.
According to the lawsuit by her husband and the estate, all of the defendants bear responsibility for her murder. Grayson’s employer (New England Home Care, Inc., which is affiliated with BW NHHC Holdco Inc. and Elara Holdings) is accused of intentionally sending Grayson into an unsafe situation with a violent criminal, and Elara is further charged with encouraging its affiliates to take risks to increase profits. The complaint alleges that the employer ignored years of complaints by nurses that they were verbally, physically and sexually harassed, assaulted, attacked, yelled at, chased, threatened, and more by mentally unstable and/or violent patients. The employer did not provide an escort or other security for nurses sent into the halfway houses, according to the complaint.
In their defense, the employer entities deny they encourage their affiliates to put profits over safety. They also deny that complaints about serving dangerous patients were known or ignored, Ultimately, they argue, it was Connecticut officials who determined that the convicted rapist Reese was not a danger to the community and approved his transfer to a halfway house. They maintain state authorities were also responsible for monitoring and managing Reese’s activities. They say they were never put on notice that Reese was a danger to the community, nor was there any indication that he would commit such a violent act.
New England Home Care also argues that since Grayson was an employee, any claims of negligence are barred by the workers’ compensation statute. NEHC also denies the claim that it “intentionally sent her into an unsafe situation with a violent criminal.”
Services Agency and Owner
The lawsuit also targets the social service agency running the house, The Connection, and the owner of the house, John Walker. The lawsuit faults The Connection for allegedly not providing adequate or appropriate treatment or oversight of the residents of the halfway house and for allowing Reese to be alone with visiting nurses. The owner of the property is said to have failed to secure his property despite knowing that the residents had histories of violence and that the agency running the home was not providing adequate treatment or oversight.
The Connection disputes the allegations against it, claiming it was not involved in the state’s decision to transfer Reese to the Willimantic home and it does not provide any staffing for that program. In fact, The Connection maintains, the primary claim against it is that it failed to supervise the assailant, but it was not responsible for supervising him— the state was.
In his defense, the property owner Walker says he rented his house to The Connection to provide temporary housing to individuals released by the Connecticut Department of Corrections but he had no involvement with the program run by The Connection or with any of the other defendants.
This past March, Elara Care settled a $163,627 penalty issued by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) after an investigation in 2024 found that the company exposed home healthcare employees to workplace violence from patients who exhibited aggressive behavior and were known to pose a risk to others.
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Lawsuits
Connecticut
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