A former Kentucky nurse has pleaded guilty to manslaughter of a patient after initially being charged with murder, Lexington Herald Leader reported April 13.
Eyvette Hunter, 52, was accused of killing a 97-year-old patient who, police said, died as a result of Ms. Hunter's intentional medical maltreatment. Ms. Hunter was supposed to stand trial June 12, but after court-ordered mediation took the plea deal and now faces five years in prison for the amended second degree manslaughter charge, according to CBS affiliate WKYT. She is scheduled for sentencing June 8.
Her attorney, Daniel Whitley, said she's being used as a "scapegoat" for negligence at the hospitals.
"What I have learned about the criminal justice system, prosecutors can make anyone a murderer," Mr. Whitley told the Leader. "When you are facing 20 (years) to life in prison, you sometimes have no other choice but to resolve your case and take a lesser charge even though you are innocent."
Ms. Hunter was a nurse at Baptist Health Lexington (Ky.) when she allegedly gave the patient medication he was not prescribed. He died a few days later as a result of complications from the medication. She was fired on April 30, 2022, but continued to work as a travel nurse at a Lexington-based UK HealthCare hospital until her Aug. 23, 2022, arrest. Her nursing license was also suspended that day.