Unanswered questions linger over man’s death at a Broken Arrow assisted living community

Johnston was found dead in the facility’s courtyard on May 10, 2024. Body camera footage from first responders shows the aftermath, as staff expressed shock that no one had noticed Johnston was missing for several hours.

According to the lawsuit filed by the Johnston family’s attorney, Donald Smolen II of Smolen Law, Johnston was last seen around 10 p.m. the night before and was not found until 6 a.m. the next morning.

“No one saw him between 10 at night and 6 in the morning,” said Smolen. “When they found him, he had gone out of the memory unit, out of the facility, into their courtyard, and had fallen, what looks like several times.”

Police reports indicate Johnston had a history of falling. A medical examiner’s report stated he suffered cuts on his head and bleeding in multiple parts of his brain, contributing to his death.

“You’re paying for peace of mind,” Smolen said. “The expectation is that these people who need a little extra help being watched are being watched. You’re not going to put a loved one into one of these facilities only to find them dead in the courtyard three months later.”

NewsChannel 8 contacted Prairie House and Legend Senior Living to ask whether any additional safety measures have been implemented since Johnston’s death. As of publication, neither organization has responded.

“There really hasn’t been an explanation as to how this happened,” Smolen added. “No explanation as to how he got out of the locked area that was the memory unit. No explanation as to how he got out in the courtyard, how he was able to fall, how all of this happened over a course of hours, and no one ever noticed. There’s just not a lot of people holding them accountable, and so that’s what we try to do in situations like this.”