A former employee of a state veterans home in West Texas pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a felony charge of "striking, pushing, grabbing and forcefully handling" a resident in late 2007.

Bryson Vanderbilt, 25, entered the plea in Howard County District Court, where he was assigned a court-appointed attorney.

On March 25, a grand jury indicted Vanderbilt and Connie Mae Johnson, 52, both of whom were certified nursing aides, and charged them with harming residents in separate incidents at the Lamun-Lusk-Sanchez State Veterans Home in Big Spring.

Vanderbilt is accused of injuring John Harris, a World War II Navy veteran who died in May 2008 at age 98. Johnson is accused of hurting Albert Teague, a Marine who died in October 2009. Vanderbilt and Johnson were fired by the company the state hired to run the veterans home, Austin-based Senior Dimensions.

Johnson is expected to be arraigned soon, said Howard County District Attorney Hardy Wilkerson.

The Dallas Morning News reported last month that the criminal investigation into the two former Big Spring workers languished for more than two years because of confusion over who should investigate, cumbersome bureaucracy and conflicts among local police, state officials and administrators at the veterans home – which is owned by a division of the Texas General Land Office.

James Drew,

Austin Bureau

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