By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-01-06 17:46:51 | Updated at 2025-01-08 01:47:12
1 day ago
A twisted nurse accused of breaking the legs of seven newborn babies in her care has been branded a 'racist' who targeted black children, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.
Erin Strotman has been charged with malicious wounding and felony child abuse over the incidents at Henrico Doctors' Hospital in Richmond, Virginia.
The 26-year-old has been accused of initially injuring only black babies by staff in the hospital, with sources saying she 'switched her focus' when she returned to the hospital in late 2024.
This was after she and three others were suspended with pay from the neo-natal intensive care unit in 2023 when four babies were found to have 'unexplainable fractures'.
One told DailyMail.com: 'The majority of the babies were black babies, when she came back when they noticed the pattern, she tried to throw them off by targeting a white baby and a girl baby.
'She wasn't the strongest in the class, she was literally one of the slowest. People are saying she's a white supremacist but that's a bit of a stretch.
I definitely felt like she was racist, she was deeply southern rooted.
'I was surprised at what she did, but I'm not surprised that it was her. If anyone was to do something crazy, she would have been at the top of the list.'
The hospital announced on Christmas Eve last year that it would not be 'admitting any additional babies into our NICU at this time' after three babies were found with the fractures in late November and December.
Former classmates of 26-year-old Erin Strotman, who is accused of breaking babies' legs, said she was 'weird' and always 'in the background' during their training
Erin Strotman has been charged with malicious wounding and felony child abuse over the seven incidents at Henrico Doctors' Hospital in Richmond, Virginia
Strotman is seen with her family after her 2019 graduation from nursing school. They refused to comment on her arrest, with one telling DailyMail.com 'I don't want to talk about that'
Sources told DailyMail.com that four nurses were initially suspended with full pay for almost a year during the investigation.
But they were all allowed to return to work after CPS was unable to prove who was targeting the babies.
The hospital later installed 'angel cameras' which allowed constant monitoring of the premature babies. Staff claimed that is how Strotman was caught.
Officials confirmed that the injuries were 'similar to an incident involving four babies in the summer of 2023', with Henrico County Police reviewing 'dozens of videos' from inside the unit.
Detectives are re-examining the 2023 and 2024 cases as part of the broader investigation.
Staff at the hospital are horrified that Strotman was allowed back to work, one nurse telling DailyMail.com: 'Virginia is a right to work state, so you don't have to have a reason to fire someone.
'If you even suspected these people were in the midst of harming babies you can terminate them,' the nurse, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added.
'But why would you let them come back and harm even more babies? They shouldn't have allowed her to come back.
Henrico hospital announced on Christmas Eve last year that it would not be 'admitting any additional babies into our NICU at this time' after three babies were found with the fractures
The hospital later installed 'angel cameras' which allowed constant monitoring of the premature babies. Staff claimed that is how Strotman was caught and charged
The nurse said some fractures are common in childbirth.
'Shoulders and clavicles, when they're coming out of the birth canal, break all the time, but legs never happen.
'It would have to be a whole lot of coincidences for that fracture to be the same way it was in all those babies.
'It would be like trying to snap a pencil. You have to put some force behind it. It's highly unlikely unless you accidentally drop one of them to snap their lower leg, below the knee, and that's what was being broken.'
Despite the injuries, the babies are reportedly all doing well and recovering after being moved to different hospitals.
Those who trained and worked with Strotman told DailyMail.com they were shocked that she had been placed on the specialist unit in the first place.
One described her as being 'weird' and always 'in the background' during their training at ECPI University in Richmond.
Footage obtained by DailyMail.com shows Strotman smiling as she crosses the stage to get her associate's degree in nursing diploma in 2019.
The course is an accelerated program which lasts just 18 months, with Strotman's fellow graduates describing her as the 'weakest' in their class.
They were shocked when she was chosen over their course leader to work at NICU, adding that she 'never spoke about working with babies'.
Exclusive DailyMail.com pictures show the inside of Strotman's apartment covered in used training pads after her arrest - sources told DailyMail.com she 'smelled like a farm' and she often spoke about her rescue animals
Noah Hackey was one of seven babies who suffered inexplicable injuries at Henrico Doctors' Hospital in Richmond, Virginia. He suffered a fractured leg after his premature birth
'It's crazy they picked a new grad to work there over our teacher,' one said. 'She was always lurking in a corner somewhere, not really great at anything, and she never took time to engage.
'She never spoke about working with babies, and she was one of the last people we thought would do that.
'She had something going back and forth with a guy, she really liked him and changed her whole self, dyed her hair and changed who she was to try to get this guy.
'And then he ended up going off with another girl and they had a son together. Some of us are speculating that might be the reason that she chose to hurt boys.
'We were all saying that she was weird, but she changes and plays up to whoever is in charge, and they say she's not that bad. But we all knew that a tiger doesn't change their stripes.'
Strotman previously worked in the progressive nursery care unit (PNCU), where the full term and general population babies were treated, before moving to the neo-natal intensive care unit.
Those who knew her added that she always 'smelled like a farm', with mothers who had their children cared for by Strotman confirming she spoke about her rescue animals.
Exclusive DailyMail.com pictures show the inside of Strotman's apartment covered in used training pads after her arrest.
Noah's father Dominique Hackey contacted child services, who found Noah had suffered level one physical abuse. He went public after discovering that a nurse was likely behind it
Her family refused to comment on her arrest, with one telling DailyMail.com 'I don't want to talk about that', when approached.
Strotman's arrest came after Dominique and Tori Hackey spoke out after Virginia Child Services informed them that their newborn baby Noah had been abused by an employee at the NICU when he suffered a fractured leg following his premature birth.
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.
Strotman was denied bond at a hearing in Henrico on Friday, and will next appear in court in March.
