LEXINGTON, Ky. — A former nurse was arrested in Kentucky on murder charges after investigators said she killed her patient by injecting him with a drug he wasn’t supposed to receive.
In a news release, the Lexington Police Department said Eyvette Hunter, 52, was arrested and charged with the murder of 97-year-old James Morris. Police said Hunter, who was a nurse at Baptist Health Lexington “intentionally performed actions of medical maltreatment” that led to Morris’ death.
Hunter allegedly requested lorazepam, a tranquilizer, to calm down an anxious and agitated Morris. When her request was denied, Hunter is accused of withdrawing a vial of the drug meant for another patient and injecting it into Morris, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported. When another employee saw Hunter inject the medication and asked what was given, Hunter allegedly responded, “something special,” the newspaper reported.
The suspension order from the Kentucky Board of Nursing, obtained by The Associated Press, said that Hunter gave Morris food after giving him the medication. Approximately 30 minutes later, another nurse found Morris having difficulty breathing.
The suspension order alleges that Hunter disarmed the oxygen monitoring system so that the alarm wouldn’t sound, WTVQ reported. Additionally, X-rays found that Morris had inhaled food stuck in his throat, causing aspirational pneumonia.
Morris died May 5, with the cause of death listed as aspirational pneumonia, the AP reported.
Baptist Health told the AP that the hospital fired Hunter that day and reported her to the Kentucky Board of Nursing. The Board of Nursing suspended Hunter’s nursing license.
Morris had initially been admitted to the hospital for a slip and fall injury, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.
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