State regulators are trying to take control of a nursing home where they say elderly residents have been raped and killed by mentally ill patients.

The Ambrosia Home, which has 75 residents, placed some of its frail elderly residents in a locked wing with violent, mentally ill residents, said officials of the Agency for Health Care Administration, which licenses nursing homes.

The agency shut down Ambrosia’s 23-bed locked wing on Friday. It also asked a judge to name new managers; a ruling on that petition is expected Thursday.

The agency’s petition said the home “uses its 23-bed locked unit as a jail rather than as a part of a comprehensive resident care plan.”

It also alleged that some of the “aggressive mentally ill residents (in the locked unit) have killed, injured, fought and committed sexual battery upon other residents. The Ambrosia Home has failed to intervene.”

The petition did not elaborate, and agency spokeswoman Colleen David said she had no further information on the allegations.

Phone calls to police Sunday seeking comment on the allegations were not immediately returned. A woman who would not give her name at Ambrosia Home said the home had no comment.

The Ambrosia Home was relicensed in January although an inspection in November uncovered dozens of problems, including inadequate staffing and possible misuse of antipsychotic drugs, officials said.

Inspectors said they visited the home July 17 and Aug. 9 and found conditions getting worse.