ATLANTA – The family of a 23-year-old metro Atlanta man is demanding answers after he was killed during a violent attack at a Minneapolis mental health treatment facility.
Minneapolis mental health facility homicide
What we know:
Bryce Hayes, a Grayson High School graduate who was autistic, died Monday after being assaulted at The Nancy Page Crisis Residential Center in Minneapolis. Police said suspect Dereck Duane Faulkner went room to room inside the facility, attacking residents with a fork and fire extinguisher chemicals. Hayes was found with life-threatening injuries and later died.
Four other patients were injured during the attack. Hayes’ family held a news conference on Friday to speak out publicly for the first time since the assault. Family members described Hayes as a quiet, loving, and polite young man who had recently moved to Minneapolis to pursue independent living.
“There is nothing he could have done to deserve this,” family members said. “He is the most gentle person, respectful… he would not hurt a fly.”
Faulkner was out on bond from two late August incidents at the time of the attack. He had previously been arrested for attempted murder after allegedly shooting a rifle at a co-worker, and was charged days later with assaulting four emergency room employees at a Minneapolis hospital.
Security concerns and legal action
What they’re saying:
Attorneys representing the Hayes family questioned the safety protocols and staffing levels at the crisis center, asking why non-violent patients were housed alongside individuals with a history of violent behavior.
“Some of those boil down to staffing. Are there enough staff working to monitor everyone at the facility?” family attorney L. Chris Stewart said. “The intake procedure for allowing non-violent residents being mixed with violent residents.”
Hayes’ father described the physical scene and the aftermath of the attack as horrific.
“This was a very gory, horrific incident,” Hayes’ father said. “This was not table talk … this was equivalent to what you would see in a chainsaw massacre. It is not easy to walk through the incidents of that house, nor is it easy to walk through what happen room to room, nor is it easy to talk about the physical condition of my son after his attack.”
The family expressed hope that law enforcement and state officials will hold the facility accountable.
“We just hope they get down to the truth. And that the family gets justice,” attorneys added.
Facility staffing and safety policies
What we don’t know:
Officials at The Nancy Page Crisis Residential Center have not publicly addressed the specific staffing numbers on duty during the attack or clarified why Faulkner was admitted to the facility while out on bond for violent offenses.
Legal proceedings and criminal charges
What’s next:
Faulkner faces murder charges along with additional assault counts related to the four injured patients as court proceedings move forward in Minneapolis.
Attorneys for the Hayes family plan to continue investigating the facility’s intake procedures and safety standards.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from statements made during a news conference by the family of Bryce Hayes, statements from family attorney L. Chris Stewart, Minneapolis Police Department arrest records, and reporting by FOX 5 anchor Aungelique Proctor.