NC nurse charged with murder in deaths of 2 patients

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — A former nurse at a North Carolina hospital has been charged in the deaths of two patients after officials said he injected them with lethal doses of insulin.

Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill announced at a news conference Tuesday that Johnathan Howard Hayes, a registered nurse, was charged with two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, news outlets reported. Hayes worked at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem.

Hayes was ordered held without bond at a first appearance Wednesday, police said. His case was referred to the public defender’s office, but one hasn’t been assigned yet, according to the clerk of the court's office.

The 47-year-old Winston-Salem man, described by O’Neill as a “rogue nurse,” is accused of administering a near-fatal dose of insulin to Pamela Little on Dec. 1, 2021, O’Neill said. Little survived. On Jan. 5, Hayes administered a lethal dose of insulin to patient Gwen Crawford, who died three days later, O’Neill said. On Jan. 22, Hayes gave another lethal dose of insulin to Vickie Lingerfelt, who died five days later, he said.

O’Neill said he and detectives met in March with Atrium Health officials, who presented details of an investigation that appeared to show that Hayes had injected a lethal dose of insulin into a patient, causing that patient’s death and possibly others. Winston-Salem police took on the investigation and after consulting with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and Winston-Salem police, O’Neill said he found that police had probable cause to charge Hayes. It doesn’t appear that Hayes knew the patients and there’s no apparent motive, O’Neill said. Evidence indicates Hayes acted alone, he said.

O’Neill, whose wife is a doctor at Atrium...