Laura Lundquist nursing home murder

FILE - In this Aug. 21, 2009 file photo provided by Scott Barrow, his mother Elizabeth Barrow celebrates her 100th birthday at his home in Dartmouth, Mass. Elizabeth Barrow was found on Sept. 24, 2009, strangled in her Dartmouth nursing home bed with a plastic bag over her head. Laura Lundquist, a 102-year-old woman prosecutors say killed Elizabeth Barrow, still faces a second-degree murder charge. Lundquist is the oldest murder defendant in state history. (AP Photo/Scott Barrow, File)

(Scott Barrow via AP)

At 102, Laura Lundquist has the dubious distinction of becoming the oldest murder defendant in Massachusetts history. But she will never see the inside of a courtroom. Lundquist has a longstanding diagnosis of dementia and has been ruled incompetent to stand trial. She's being held at a state psychiatric hospital, instead. But is this justice?

Lundquist was 98 when she was charged in 2009 on allegations that she strangled Elizabeth Barrow, age 100. The roommate was found with a plastic bag tied around her head in her bed at the Brandon Woods nursing home in Dartmouth. All this, according to the Associated Press.

But in the years since, the case has gone nowhere, due to the accused's compromised mental state.

Even the victim's son recognizes the justice wouldn't be served by putting his mother's alleged killer on trial. He is going after the nursing home in a civil suit, instead.

Scott, said he realizes Lundquist will likely never stand trial in his mother's death.

"It would be like prosecuting a 2-year-old," Scott Barrow told AP. "It's just an awful thing that happened. How could she be held accountable for this when she's not in her right mind?"

Instead, Scott Barrow is hoping a lawsuit he filed against the nursing home, its owners and operators will eventually be heard by a jury. In 2012, an arbitrator ruled in favor of the nursing home and found no negligence, AP wrote. The Massachusetts Appeals Court heard arguments in the case in April and is expected to rule soon on whether the case can go to trial.

So is suing the nursing home in his mother's murder the best route to justice in this troubling case?

Tell us why or why not.