SALISBURY, N.C. — A Salisbury family is demanding accountability after a couple who had been married 30 years died weeks apart at the Citadel.
Naticha Murray said her grandparents, Eddie and Bobby Jean Watkins, were two of 18 Citadel residents who died from COVID-19. The nursing home has more COVID-19 cases than any other facility in North Carolina.
"I want them to do something about the Citadel!" Murray said. "This is not right! It's not fair!"
The nursing home is the subject of two lawsuits, which accuse management of failing to protect its vulnerable residents and staff from a COVID-19 outbreak.
Affidavits from former employees filed this week claim managers banned them from wearing personal protective equipment. Workers also accused the nursing home's corporate office of refusing to pay for coronavirus tests.
"I'm glad people are finally coming out and being honest," Murray said.
She urged families to remove their loved ones who are still in the facility.
"I lost two wonderful people in my life," she said. "It's not fair, and it's not going to be fair for other family members."
WCNC Charlotte reached out to the Citadel's parent earlier this week for comment on the affidavits, but it didn't hear back.
In the past, a company representative described the allegations in the lawsuit as baseless and unfounded.