Police are searching for a suspect who fatally assaulted a fellow patient inside Lincoln Hospital in the South Bronx last month, law enforcement sources said. According to the NYPD, Cynthia Vann, of Concourse Village, was admitted to NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln on Sept. 10 for an unrelated medical condition when she was punched multiple times in the head by another patient as she slept and required emergency surgery. Vann remained hospitalized in critical condition until she died on Sept. 27.
"It's heartbreaking. I'm broken inside. It's very difficult. My mom was my support system. She was really all I had," Vann's daughter Taneisha Vann told News 12. "She didn't deserve this. No one deserves to be assaulted at a hospital while you're sleeping," the younger Vann said. "You're supposed to feel safe." Vann died of blunt force trauma to the head, the outlet reported, citing the medical examiner's office. Her death was ruled a homicide.