‘My Son Knew Pain Before Joy’: Abuse Allegations Shake Virginia NICU

An image of a hospital neonatal intensive care unit.

The headline alone was alarming: A nurse at Virginia hospital had been accused of abuse in a case where prosecutors said she intentionally broke the bones of at least one newborn baby in a neonatal intensive care unit.

If that wasn’t disturbing enough, there was, at least one news report said, another chilling dimension to the story: The babies, seven in total, were victimized because they were Black.

The former nurse, one article in the Daily Mail read, was “accused of racism as she ‘targeted Black babies.’”

But police now say that there’s just one problem with the story: It’s wrong. 

In what the authorities describe as a case of misinformation gone viral, the racial element of the abuse case at the hospital in Henrico County, Virginia, was inaccurate.

Police tried to correct the record by releasing a statement on Jan. 7 without naming a specific news publication or social media influencer as the source of the misinformation. 

“Henrico Police is aware of editorial social media videos discussing the Henrico Doctors’ Hospital NICU investigation,” read a statement from the Henrico County Police Department. “These individuals in the video claim the victims were targeted by the suspect on account of their race. The preliminary investigation indicates this information is not factual.”

While the police did not identify the racial backgrounds of the children who were abused, two Black parents, who said on social media that their children were victims of the crime, denied that race played a role in the abuse. One parent, Dominique Hackey, said in a video on TikTok that three of the babies, including his son, were Black and four of the babies were white. They are all boys, he added.

“This is not a hate crime,” said the other parent, a Black mom, in a separate video posted on social media. “Stop saying that. Please stop saying that. If you want us to get justice — do it the right way.”

The rebuttals came too late to squash a firestorm of posts on social media, with users and celebrities posting videos and messages expressing their outrage that unbeknownst to them was based on misinformation.

A police mugshot of ERIN ELIZABETH ANN STROTMAN, courtesy of the Henrico County, Virginia, Sheriff's Office.
Former nurse Erin Elizabeth Ann Strotman has been charged with injuring at least one premature baby at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital in Henrico County, Virginia. (Courtesy of the Henrico County Sheriff’s Office)

The nurse, Erin Elizabeth Ann Strotman, was arrested on Jan. 3. Strotman, 26, has been charged with injuring at least one premature baby in the NICU, according to the criminal complaint. Her case is part of a broader ongoing investigation into the entire unit. 

The white nurse from nearby Chesterfield County is suspected of fracturing the bones of up to seven babies, Hackey said. (Police have not specified how many babies might be involved beyond the one charge currently against Strotman.) As a result of Strotman’s arrest, the hospital’s NICU has stopped accepting new patients.

“I hadn’t even held my son before he was abused,” said Hackey in the video, where he responded to questions about why he did not hold his child. “It’s because I’m a Black man in America. 

“I didn’t want there to be any type of confusion over who [had] done it,” he added, without losing focus on the camera’s lens. “I wanted, with undeniable, you know, conviction, to be able to say that I hadn’t even held my son before he was abused.”

Strotman is facing a felony charge of child neglect and a charge of malicious wounding in connection to an incident involving an infant on Nov. 10. If convicted, she could face up to 10 years in prison on the child neglect charge and up to 20 years for malicious wounding. On Monday, her request for a monetary bond to get released from jail pending trial was denied, WRIC reported.

“We are both shocked and saddened by this development in the investigation and are focused on continuing to care for our patients and providing support to our colleagues who have been deeply and personally impacted by this investigation,” hospital officials said in a news release.

Strotman has been held without bail at the Henrico County Jail since her arrest. She was denied bond on Monday, and is expected back in court in May. 

“My thoughts are with the families of the injured children, who suffered harm while in a facility designed to provide comfort and care,” said Shannon Taylor, the chief prosecutor for Henrico County, in a statement. “I assure the public that the investigation of these matters will be thorough and, if sufficient evidence arises to establish the criminal culpability of other individuals, additional charges will be brought forthwith.”

A 2023 Virginia Department of Health report obtained by Capital B revealed the hospital failed to report in August and September suspected abuse of four premature infants within 24 hours.

Once health inspector investigators learned the four premature babies suffered fractures, the families, law enforcement, and other necessary agencies were notified.

Then, on Jan. 17, 2024, two new security systems were installed at the hospital that allowed parents to view their babies every hour, on the hour in the NICU. The hospital also instituted a daily examination of all NICU babies led by neonatologists, and “NICU-wide in-person safety training,” according to the report.

But on Nov. 22, Henrico County detectives responded to a report of a 5-month-old baby boy in the NICU with a fractured left femur, right tibia, and multiple rib fractures, according to the criminal complaint. Imaging of the newborn’s broken bones reviewed by medical staff determined that the breaks happened 7 to 10 days prior. 

The Henrico County Division of Police said they’re “reviewing dozens of videos from inside the NICU” and “detectives are re-examining the 2023 and 2024 cases” that involved six other babies “as part of this broader investigation.” 

Detectives combed through hours of footage that brought them back to Nov. 10. What investigators saw on camera led to Strotman’s arrest.

She was allegedly seen on camera “placing her weight down on the legs of” the baby “then taking both legs and pushing them backwards to where” his “feet were at his head,” according to the criminal complaint. The baby appeared to be “crying in distress.”

One parent of an injured baby could not be reached for comment; Hackey declined to comment.

“My son knew pain before he knew any type of happiness, any type of joy, anything,” said Hackey in the video. “That doesn’t sit right with me.”

He added, “It is heartbreaking to me.”

The post ‘My Son Knew Pain Before Joy’: Abuse Allegations Shake Virginia NICU appeared first on Capital B News.

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