Former traveling nurse Eyvette Hunter has been arrested in Kentucky on Tuesday and charged with the murder of a 97 year old patient. Hunter was fired from Baptist Health Lexington, back in April after the hospital discovered that the nurse gave the patient an unauthorized dose of a “calming drug”.
Now according WTVQ, on April 30th, James Morris was admitted to the hospital to be treated for a slip and fall accident. Hunter was assigned to be his nurse. She says Morris became “agitated and aggressive”, so she left to get restraints. She says she requested the nurse practitioner and on-duty physician to order medication but both declined. That’s when Hunter decided to take things into her own hands.
The Kentucky Board of Nursing (KBN) says, Hunter took lorazepam, also known as Ativan, for a different patient, but injected it into Morris’ arm with a syringe. 5 minutes after Hunter withdrew the medication, Morris’ chair alarm went off, signaling nurses to rush in. The KBN also says that 30 minutes later, another nurse found that the patient’s oxygen levels were off. They determined that Hunter disarmed the oxygen monitor system so it would not alarm once levels got low.
The nurses called for a respiratory therapist to deliver breathing treatments, and they found food was stuck in Morris’ throat that Hunter had given him. The KBN says through x-rays, they determined that breathing in the substance in his throat cause aspirational pneumonia. Hunter changed the report to say that Ativan was not given to the patient. Morris’ health declined and he died days later on May 5th, with the cause of death, aspirational pneumonia.
The hospital released a statement saying,
“We have learned that a former nurse at our hospital has been arrested today on criminal charges. The nurse has not worked at our hospital since April 30th. The nurse’s employment was terminated and she was reported to the Kentucky Board of Nursing. The hospital has fully cooperated with the police investigation. Patient care and safety are always our top priorities. Out of respect for the patient’s family and because this is criminal matter, we are not able to talk about the investigation.”
Hunter is being held at the Fayette County Detention Center on a $100,000 full-cash bond. WebCelebDaily will continue to bring you updates on this story.
