Agencies investigating veteran’s death in Talihina

TULSA, Okla. (AP) – Federal and state investigations are underway into the choking death of a man with later-stage dementia at the Oklahoma Veterans Center in Talihina.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the Oklahoma Department of Human Services and the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs have launched separate investigations into the Jan. 31 death of 70-year-old Leonard Smith. Smith died in the nursing home’s locked-down, special-needs unit.

The Tulsa World reports that a report from the Oklahoma Medical Examiner’s Office about the cause and manner of Smith’s death is still pending the results of toxicology tests.

It is the second Talihina resident’s death to be investigated in recent months. Vietnam veteran Owen Reese Peterson died at the Talihina Veterans Center on Oct. 3 after he was found with maggots in a wound.