Lexington nurse pleads guilty after death of a 97-year-old patient
A Lexington nurse who was charged with killing a patient has pleaded guilty to manslaughter after she was initially charged with murder.
Eyvette Hunter, 52, pleaded guilty Wednesday after participating in court-ordered mediation. She was accused of killing 97-year-old patient James Morris, who police said died as a result of Hunter’s intentional medical maltreatment. Morris died May 5 after Hunter’s actions a few days prior.
Hunter faces five years in prison for the amended charge of manslaughter, according to court documents. She was originally expected to stand trial June 12. Her sentencing is scheduled at 9 a.m. June 8 with Fayette Circuit Judge Thomas Travis.
Hunter’s attorney, Daniel Whitley, said her case was troubling on multiple levels and said she was used as a “scapegoat” for negligence of the hospitals.
“What I have learned about the criminal justice system, prosecutors can make anyone a murderer,” Whitley said. “When you are facing 20 (years) to life in prison, you sometimes have no other choice but to resolve your case and take a lesser charge even though you are innocent.”
Prosecutors: Unprescribed sedative caused patient’s death
Court documents allege Morris died because Hunter injected him with Ativan, a schedule four narcotic and sedative which he was not prescribed. Additionally, doctors had denied Hunter’s request to give Morris the drug before she did it, documents indicate.
Despite the denial, she “proceeded to administer something intravenously” to Morris, according to a suspension order from the state Board of Nursing which was filed after the incident. Hunter’s nursing license was suspended when she was charged with murder.
According to the Kentucky Board of Nursing, Hunter’s license is still not active.
After Hunter administered the drug, Morris was later found with labored breathing and his oxygen saturation equipment turned off.
“It was determined that (Hunter) had disarmed/lowered the oxygen monitoring system several times so as to not set off an alarm at the bedside,” the Board of Nursing’s order states.
The Board of Nursing suspension order indicates Morris had aspirated on food or medicine given to him. As a result of the incident, he developed pneumonia, according to the Board of Nursing.
Doctors informed detectives that prior to the incident, Morris had been doing well enough that he was going to be released to a rehab facility.
Instead, Morris went to hospice care on May 3 and died two days later.
“The defendant administered an unprescribed drug to Mr. Morris, and her continuous course of conduct prevented him from getting life saving measures,” prosecutors wrote in court documents previously.
“The defendant turned off alarms, altered alarm settings to prevent other nurses from seeing him struggle to breathe, ... and presumably fed him 30 minutes after administering the unprescribed drug and at the same time that her notes indicate he was snoring,” prosecutors wrote.
According to a spokesperson for Baptist Health, Hunter was terminated from the hospital and reported to the Kentucky Board of Nursing following the incident with Morris. However Hunter continued to work as a nurse at the University of Kentucky Hospital until official charges were filed against her.
University of Kentucky officials alleged they did not know about the suspension of Hunter’s license and the reasoning behind it because she was a traveling nurse, placed at the hospital through Health Carousel Travel Network, an outside agency.
When UK HealthCare learned of her suspension by the Kentucky Board of Nursing and the indictment, she was immediately released her from her duties, UK spokesperson Jay Blanton said.
Health Carousel also said they took action after finding out about the incident.
“The incident took place at Baptist Health Lexington where Ms. Hunter took employment on her own and separate from Health Carousel,” the company said in a statement. “After we were informed of the incident and subsequent decision from the confidential board investigation, Ms. Hunter was immediately released from her duties with our company.”
Reporter Chris Leach contributed to this report. This story may be updated.
