A nurse in Cheshire, England is now charged in the alleged murders of eight babies, as well as the attempted murders of others. The counts against Lucy Letby, 30, have been a long time coming. She was previously arrested twice in a criminal investigation dating back to 2017.
The situation dated back even further to 2015, when hospital officials at the County of Chester Hospital noticed an unusually high number of neonatal deaths, some of which were unexplained, according to a 2016 review.
“One surviving infant was mentioned as having needed resuscitation for similar collapses over three nights but subsequently recovered, although the Review team did not see details of ‘near misses’ such as this,” the review stated. “The consultants did not initially consider that there were any links between the episodes of collapse in the infants that died but subsequently they began to note similarities.” For example, there was reported “sudden mottling” that appeared after several minutes of resuscitation, usually beginning on the limbs, but at least once on the abdomen and chest. “The consultants had considered a number of possible causes for this appearance but there remained no definite explanation.”
Cheshire police said Wednesday that Letby faces eight counts of murder, and 10 of attempted murder in connection to incidents from June 2015 to June 2016.
“We acknowledge the new and significant development in this case, which is of serious concern to the Trust,” said Countess of Chester Hospital Chief Executive, Dr. Susan Gilby. “We are fully supportive and respectful of the judicial processes and as such will not be making any further comments at this stage. Our thoughts continue to be with all the families involved.”
The victims in the case have been identified as Cemlyn Bennett, Maddie Freed, Barney Gee, Eli Gelder, Joseph Gelder, Joseph Johnson, Elsie McNall, and Daisy Parkin, according to The Sun.
[Image via Christopher Furlong/Getty Images]
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