FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – A 72-year-old man was arrested after a woman living at a Flagler County nursing home was found beaten to death in the room of the fellow resident, sheriff’s officials said.
Investigators said Cliff Mody is facing a second-degree murder charge in connection with the 77-year-old woman’s death.
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were called around 2 a.m. to the Gold Choice Assisted Living & Memory Care facility on North Old Kings Road in Palm Coast and found the woman unconscious and not breathing on a bed in a room.
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“We had an incident with a patient. A female patient went into male patient’s room and I guess he had choked her out and she’s expired,” a worker at the facility said in a call to 911.
The woman, whose name has not been released, was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics, sheriff’s officials said.
Nursing home employees called 911 after Mody told them he had beaten a woman to death in his room, according to deputies.
“I walked in and he had blood on his hands and she has a busted lip. I could look at her and soon as I walked in and knew she was expired and I felt for a pulse and there’s no pulse,” the worker said.
The worker who called 911 said Mody had a history of attacking people at the facility.
“We’ve had a problem with him (Mody) attacking somebody over here so I don’t know why they just didn’t have him leave,” the worker said to emergency dispatchers.
Listen to the 911 call in the media player below:
“This arrest is the result of a thorough on-scene investigation by our Major Case Unit at this facility,” Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said in a news release. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families involved and we worked hard to make sure the suspect is held accountable for his actions. Families need to know that their loved ones are safe when they are moved into the care of any facility and I encourage them to always conduct thorough facility research. I commend Detective Crosbee and the team that assisted him in bringing this case to a quick closure.”
Flagler Sheriff’s Office Division Chief Kim Burroughs said they’re still investigating why the woman was in his room, but a charging affidavit shows the woman, who had a diminished mental capacity, would regularly “enter the rooms of other residents and attempt to lay in bed with them.”
“There’s a secured area of that facility that residents are able to walk around in,” she said.
Burroughs said they’re also looking into how this facility is run.
“We’ll be looking into the facility and what their standards are there. We will be investigating that also,” she said.
According to The Agency For Health Care Administration, the Palm Coast facility opened in November 2020 and has since had two inspections with no citations or complaints.
Mody was booked into Flagler County jail and is being held without bond.
The sheriff’s office said it strongly encourages residents to thoroughly investigate any facility entrusted with the care of a family member, research facilities and professionals by visiting FloridaHealth.gov.