Waukegan technician detained after shoving disabled man into wall

Jamar Y. Mays, 23, was detained by Lake County Judge Patricia Cornell on Wednesday after prosecutors presented surveillance footage showing him shove a 47-year-old resident at the Ann Kiley Developmental Center until the man’s head struck a wall.

Mays, a mental health technician employed by the Illinois Department of Human Services, was charged on Monday with two counts of aggravated battery, reckless conduct, abuse and criminal neglect of a long-term care facility resident, and official misconduct. He was arrested Tuesday at a branch courthouse where he had appeared for a traffic matter.

Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Eduardo Zermeño said the victim, who is nonverbal and has a profound intellectual disability, was physically active before the incident on September 24. Video from that night showed Mays striking the man with clothing and jabbing his abdomen before dragging him into his bedroom. Mays then shoved him down the hallway, causing the man to slide across the floor and hit the wall.

The man remained unconscious in a dark room for approximately 30 minutes before nursing staff were alerted. Mays and a trainee initially reported the event as an accidental fall. Mays wrote a progress note stating the man slipped while running to get socks and later signed the facility’s supervisory review of that report.

The victim was transported to Vista Medical Center East, where doctors later found a compressed and bruised spinal cord in his neck. A neurosurgeon declared him nearly completely paralyzed on October 2, linking the injury to the incident. He underwent emergency neck surgery and was discharged to a rehabilitation facility in Chicago on October 8.

Cornell granted the petition to detain Mays, citing the severity of the harm and the subsequent cover-up. She noted that the defendant failed to appear in multiple prior traffic cases. Judge Cornell ordered Mays to have no contact with the victim or the facility. "I would say that this is a very disturbing situation where an individual will likely never walk again," she said.

Defense attorney Jacob Goldwater argued the video appears sped up and lacks audio, noting the victim had a history of physical altercations. Mays is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on November 18.