Some people in the world are pure evil, and unfortunately, some of those people have access to the most vulnerable humans — infants.
A former nurse at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in Central Virginia has been charged with malicious wounding and child abuse following an investigation into newborn babies with “unexplainable fractures.”
Erin Elizabeth Ann Strotman, a 26-year-old nurse from Chesterfield County, is accused of injuring at least one Black child, but at least seven more may have suffered the same injuries.
According to ABC 8 News, three babies at the hospital were discovered with “unexplainable fractures” in late November and December 2024, and their cases mirrored those of four infants who suffered similar injuries in 2023.
So far, Strotman, who was arraigned and held without bond on Friday, has only been charged with one of the children.
From ABC:
An investigation by Henrico County’s Child Protective Services, the Henrico County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, Virginia State Police, the Virginia Department of Health and the Office of the Attorney General has been underway in relation to these incidents.
When asked following the arraignment whether all seven babies in the investigation are currently alive, Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor said officials were continuing to investigate, and could not yet confirm their health status.
“The maximum statutory penalty for felony child neglect is 10 years of incarceration and the maximum statutory penalty for felony malicious wounding is 20 years of incarceration,” Taylor said.
Taylor also suggested that Strotman’s arrest was just the beginning, and she assured the public that the investigation is still ongoing, that the injuries sustained by the other children will be addressed, and that others may join Strotman as defendants in the case.
While there has been an arrest for one person for allegedly inflicting injury on a single victim, I would emphasize this is an ongoing investigation spanning potential offenses committed in both 2023 and 2024,” she said. “I assure the public that the investigation of these matters will be thorough and, if sufficient evidence arises to establish the criminal culpability of other individuals, additional charges will be brought forthwith without fear of or favor to any party.”
The families of all seven babies who were injured in the hospital attended the arraignment on Friday. Several family members reportedly left the courtroom in tears.
“I’m overwhelmed with emotions. I can’t put my hand on just one. I couldn’t help but to just to break down,” Dominique Hackey, the Black father of one of the babies who no one has been charged for injuring yet, told WTVR 6 . “For that father and that mother (of the child Strotman is charged for), I felt how I felt when I learned that my son had a fracture. That was helpless.”
Hackey recalled meeting Strotman near the end of his twins’ NICU stay in 2023, but he hadn’t known her for long.
“I remember her being in the room, she was friendly, she answered questions, but she didn’t stay and talk like the other NICU nurses did. She wasn’t family like the other NICU nurses,” he said.
Strotman is scheduled to appear in court again on March 24 at 2 p.m. Meanwhile, the judge ordered her not to contact any children under the age of 18.
