A former hospital nurse was arrested in connection with a 2024 incident that left three babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Virginia’s Henrico Doctors’ Hospital with “unexplainable fractures,” according to officials.
The 26-year-old suspect, Erin Elizabeth Ann Strotman, was booked into the Henrico County Jail on charges of malicious wounding and child abuse that caused serious injury on Friday, according to NBC News.
A baffling string of injuries to babies in the NICU at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital in Richmond in November and December prompted officials to launch an internal investigation and close the unit to new patients on Christmas Eve.
“In late November/December, we discovered that three babies in our Henrico Doctors’ Hospital NICU had unexplainable fractures, similar to an incident involving four babies in the summer of 2023,” the hospital said in a statement on Dec. 24.
“We initiated a thorough internal investigation, informed the families and notified the proper authorities and regulatory agencies and worked collaboratively with them on their investigations.”
Henrico County Police said they were “re-examining multiple cases from 2023 and 2024” suggesting that several babies suffered unexplained fractures, as per the press release.
At least seven babies are believed to have been harmed, reported The Washington Post.
Strotman became a registered nurse in May 2019, according to the Virginia Department of Health Professions – but it is unclear when she began working at the Henrico hospital.
Charges have not been filed in Hackey’s case, but police said they are actively collecting evidence in all of the remaining incidents.
