By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-01-03 21:56:36 | Updated at 2025-01-05 22:18:45
2 days ago
The family of a nurse accused of injuring seven newborn babies in her care has reacted to her shock arrest.
Erin Elizabeth Strotman, 26, has been charged with malicious wounding and felony child abuse over the incidents at Henrico Doctors' Hospital in Richmond, police said Friday.
DailyMail.com reached Strotman's sister Rachel and mother Kimberly on Friday shortly after news of the nurse's arrest emerged.
Rachel Strotman simply replied, 'no,' when asked for comment about her sister's arrest. Meanwhile the nurse's mom Kimberly said she had no comment. Both women sounded calm on the phone.
Kimberly Strotman had already been receiving negative comments on her Facebook account, which like Rachel's has now been deactivated.
The accused nurse appears to have deleted her Facebook and LinkedIn accounts prior to her arrest.
Social media images of Strotman, a Virginia native, show that she graduated as a registered nurse in 2019.
Her arrest comes after a couple spoke out after Virginia Child Services informed them that their newborn baby had been abused by an employee at the NICU when he suffered a fractured leg following his premature birth.
Erin Strotman, a Virginia nurse accused of abusing as many as seven newborns under her care, is seen with her family after her 2019 graduation from nursing school
Erin Elizabeth Ann Strotman, 26, has been arrested in connection to a string of accidents involving babies at a Virginia hospital
Noah Hackey was one of seven babies who suffered inexplicable injuries at Henrico Doctors' Hospital in Richmond, Virginia
Authorities opened a probe into the inexplicable fractures after four babies were injured in the summer of 2023 and three more were hurt in November and December of this year.
The case echoes that of British serial killer nurse Lucy Letby, although there have been no deaths 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,' HCA Virginia told People in a statement.
'We are grateful to those colleagues, who have dedicated their professional lives to the care and safety of our patients, as well as to law enforcement and the other agencies who have worked aggressively and tirelessly with us on this investigation.'
Henrico Doctors' Hospital's neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), which takes care of critically ill newborns, has 40 treatment areas and the hospital delivers around 4,500 babies every year.
While hospital officials acknowledge 'fractures occasionally happen,' these fractures appeared to be cause for concern.
Investigators went about reviewing video footage from inside the NICU to determine if there had been any staff misconduct or unreported accidents.
A statement on the hospital's website last month said: 'Out of an abundance of caution, we are not admitting any additional babies into our NICU at this time.
Strotman, pictured second from the left, is charged with malicious wounding and felony child abuse
Social services determined an unknown employee at the hospital caused Noah's fracture
Dominique and Tori Hackey were one of the parents affected after they welcomed their twin boys, Noah and Micah, at the hospital in August 2023.
Noah was doing well until Dominique noticed his left leg was not moving.
'It was kind of discolored, I told the doctor on staff, got some x-rays, and we determined he had a fracture to his leg, so we are going to splint it for the next two weeks, and then she was like do you want to hold him?' Dominique told WTVR.
The couple said they did not want to hold Noah for fears the hospital would blame them for the injury.
'In my mind I’m like, I don’t want them to turn it around on us and say we broke his leg or anything like that so I was like no, we don’t want to hold him, we are just going to process this,' Dominique added.
An X-ray showed that Noah's tibia had been fractured, and, according to Dominique, the hospital suggested the injury was accidental.
'That’s what they told us, that it could have been done because an injection was given and maybe they did it too hard and it caused the fracture,' Dominique said.
Dominique said it concerned him so he contacted child services. In September he received a review of their investigation, which found there was level 1 physical abuse of Noah - the worst level in Virginia.
Noah's father Dominique Hackey contacted child services, who found Noah had suffered level 1 physical abuse
Noah has fully recovered. He is pictured with his mom Tori
The letter from child services stated that 'following a through CPS investigation this agency has determined the disposition of this report to be founded level 1 for physical abuse of Noah by an employee by the Henrico Doctor’s Hospital NICU.'
In October, police informed the Hackeys that other babies had also been mysteriously injured at the Richmond hospital. However, authorities have not been able to figure out who is causing the injuries.
The hospital told the Hickeys they implemented preventative measures like cameras in the NICU and more training.
But then the hospital shut down its NICU unit in October after the measures failed to prevent three more babies being injured in November and December.
Maria Reppas, who serves as the communications director for the Virginia Department of Health (VDH), told DailyMail.com the institution is working with the hospital on the investigation.
She said: 'The health and safety of those receiving care in this NICU has and will continue to be our top priority.
Henrico hospital closed its neonatal intensive care unit after seven premature babies suffered mysterious injuries by an abuser on the loose
'VDH's Office of Licensure and Certification, in partnership with the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), has taken immediate action to identify potential concerns and are monitoring specific corrective actions.
'We are working closely with other state and local partners, including the Henrico Police Department and Virginia State Police.'
