Nurse Arrested After Several Babies In Virginia Hospital Sustain 'Unexplainable Fractures'

A nurse has been arrested after multiple babies suffered “unexplainable fractures” while at a neonatal intensive care unit in Virginia.

On December 24, Henrico Doctors’ Hospital announced in a news release that it would not be “admitting any additional babies into our NICU at this time” as three infants were found with fractures in late November and December. What’s made the situation even more concerning? The injuries were “similar to an incident involving four babies in the summer of 2023.” One of those injured babies was Noah Hackey. Per WTVR,  his parents, Tori and Dominique Hackey, discovered he had a fractured tibia while in the NICU in September 2023. Dominique recalled:

“A nurse was standing over Noah swaddling him, looked back and said I noticed his left leg wasn’t moving, it was kind of discolored, I told the doctor on staff, got some x-rays, and we determined he had fracture to his leg, so we are going to splint it for the next two weeks, and then she was like do you want to hold him?”

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However, the couple said no. The father explained:

“In my mind I’m like, I don’t want them to turn it around on us and say we broke his leg or anything like that so I was like no, we don’t want to hold him, we are just going to process this.”

At first, Dominique claimed the hospital passed off the injury as an accident. But then the couple later received a letter from Henrico’s Department of Social Services revealing what happened as anything but. The note stated that “following a [thorough] CPS investigation this agency has determined the disposition of this report to be founded level 1 for physical abuse of Noah by an employee by the Henrico Doctor’s Hospital NICU.” In Virginia, level one is the most serious level of child abuse or neglect. OMG.

The dad told the outlet that the hospital said they couldn’t figure out who hurt all those babies — until now. An investigation was launched into the horrifying situation, leading to the arrest of one nurse from the hospital: Erin Elizabeth Ann Strotman.

According to a news release obtained by People, Henrico County Police confirmed on Friday that the 26-year-old faces “charges of malicious wounding and felony child abuse in connection to an incident that occurred in November 2024.” At this time, the investigation is still ongoing. Henrico Chief of Police Eric D. English said police are reviewing all the evidence, including “dozens of videos from inside the NICU,” and 2023 and 2024 cases:

“We appreciate the families’ and public’s patience as we work as thoroughly and expeditiously as possible to investigate every piece of evidence in connection to these cases. I would also like to acknowledge the unwavering efforts of our detectives who continue to comb through hundreds of hours of footage and extend my sincere gratitude to Henrico’s Child Protective Services (Department of Social Services), the Henrico County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, Virginia State Police, the Virginia Department of Health and the Office of the Attorney General for their assistance in this matter.”

HCA Virginia also acknowledged to People that the suspect arrested was a former employee of the hospital, saying:

“We are both shocked and saddened by this development in the investigation and are focused on continuing to care for our patients and providing support to our colleagues who have been deeply and personally impacted by this investigation. We are grateful to those colleagues, who have dedicated their professional lives to the care and safety of our patients, as well as to law enforcement and the other agencies who have worked aggressively and tirelessly with us on this investigation. For more than 30 years, the NICU at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital has provided necessary and life-saving care to babies in central Virginia and we remain focused on ensuring the availability of that care in our community.”

As for how the fractures happened? It is unknown at this time. The hospital stated in December that “while fractures occasionally happen with pre-term babies since they lack full fetal bone development, we are actively working to determine how these fractures occurred.” It has since “taken immediate steps to enhance safety measures” in the NICU, per the statement, such as incorporating safety training programs, additional head-to-toe examinations of each NICU baby, installing new security systems, live-streaming technology, and more. The hospital added:

“The safety of our NICU babies is our highest priority and we are actively working to pursue additional precautions to prevent any future incidents.”

How scary that someone allegedly could have intentionally hurt these poor babies! The parents must be so upset and want answers about what happened ASAP! Reactions, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments.

If you have sincere cause to suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. 

[Image via Henrico County Sheriff’s Office]