(CNN) — An elderly woman died after she was shoved by a fellow patient in a Brooklyn emergency room, and the death has been ruled a homicide, the New York City Police Department said.

Janie Marshall, 86, grabbed the IV pole of Cassandra Lundy, 32, on March 28 in the emergency room of Woodhull Medical Center, at Brooklyn’s Broadway Triangle.

Lundy shoved Marshall, who fell to the floor and hit her head. She died three hours later.

The emergency room was reportedly chaotic on that Saturday, with a flood of coronavirus patients. One of Marshall’s family members speculated that the elderly woman had grabbed the pole because she was unsteady on her feet.

That relative — grandniece Antoinette Leonard-Jean Charles — told CNN that Marshall had been at the hospital for hours because of stomach pains related to a bowel obstruction. The elderly woman suffered from dementia, she added.

The hospital, attempting to impose social distancing, had not allowed a family member to remain with her.

Lundy reportedly told detectives she shoved Marshall because she “got into the defendant’s space,” the New York Times said, citing the criminal complaint. The report did not indicate why Lundy was at the ER.

Lundy was initially given a summons by the hospital police for disorderly conduct, according to the Times. After the medical examiner ruled Marshall’s death a homicide, Lundy was arrested April 2, the NYPD said.

She faces charges of manslaughter in the first and second degree, assault in the second degree and criminally negligent homicide, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office.

In a statement to CNN, Woodhull Hospital said they are working with the NYPD on the investigation.

According to her obituary, Marshall worked for the Social Security Administration and was one of the first African American women to receive a Commissioner Citation, the agency’s highest award.

The-CNN-Wire
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