The family of a nurse beaten unconscious by a psychiatric patient she was caring for in a hospital want to know how this occurred.
“I was angry, to be honest, that someone could let this happen to her,” said Cindy Joseph, the nurse’s daughter, to 25 WBPF.
Police say Leelamma Lal, 67, entered the patient’s room when he jumped on top of her, brutally pounding her in the face. Stephen Scantlebury of Wellington, FL faces charges of 2nd degree murder and a hate crime.
The family’s attorney told 12 News that Scantlebury made ethnic slurs and demeaned her about her Asian Indian heritage.
Scantlebury had been brought to St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach under Florida’s Baker Act, a law that allows medical professionals, judges and law enforcement to involuntarily commit someone to a mental health facility.
Lal’s family says St. Mary’s is not a Baker Act facility and that its staff is not trained to handle such patients, the Palm Beach Post reports. The family has hired an attorney and is calling for improved security measures for nurses and health care workers.
Scantlebury escaped the hospital after the attack, but police caught up with him near Royal Palm Beach.
Lal remains in intensive care.
“Our primary concern is with our beloved colleague, and we are praying for her recovery,” the hospital said in a statement. “We are also providing support to our hospital staff, who are understandably shaken by this incident. The attack on our nursing colleague happened within a matter of seconds and was witnessed by multiple people who came to assist. We are grateful to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office who acted to detain the suspect and we are assisting law enforcement in their investigation.”
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