‘Unable to defend herself’: Trusted nurse accused of holding washcloth over quadriplegic teen’s mouth, ‘shaking’ breathing machine and causing nosebleed

A Florida location wellness caregiver is accused of abusing the teen she was hired to attraction for aft allegedly being seen connected camera astir suffocating her patient.

Nia Ayers, 24, is charged with aggravated maltreatment of the aged oregon disabled, the St. Cloud Police Department announced Thursday. According to an apprehension warrant reviewed by Law&Crime, the 18-year-old unfortunate is “developmentally disabled, non verbal and incapable to attraction for herself,” and is besides quadriplegic and has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy. She is “entirely babelike connected her caregivers for each aspects of regular surviving and survival” and requires full-time care, the warrant notes.

Ayers was not a alien to her alleged victim; according to the warrant, she had been taking attraction of the teen connected Fridays for astir a year.

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The teen’s parent archetypal noticed “red scratches” astir her daughter’s “mouth country and eyelid” connected May 3, and erstwhile she reviewed information footage from Ayers shift, she “observed respective instances wherever Ayers was assertive and abusive with her girl portion caring for her that evening.”

The parent called constabulary and shared the footage, which 1 serviceman recounted successful the warrant.

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“I observed Ayers spot portion connected [the victim’s] rima and past precise aggressively clasp a lavation cloth choky to [the victim’s] mouth,” the warrant said. “I observed Ayers past aggressively rip the portion disconnected [the victim’s] mouth.” According to the mother, the portion was lone meant to beryllium utilized to support the victim’s eyes closed erstwhile she sleeps, but was ne'er to beryllium utilized connected her mouth.

The alleged maltreatment worsened, the warrant says, with Ayers reportedly adjusting her patient’s assemblage by “yanking her near limb precise aggressively.” She is besides seen holding a washcloth implicit the girl’s mouth, “appearing to beryllium hindering [the victim’s] breathing,” the warrant said. This seemingly happened astatine slightest twice, and some times, the unfortunate was seen trying to determination distant from Ayers and was intelligibly successful distress.

Ayers was besides allegedly seen “shaking” the patient’s breathing instrumentality portion the instrumentality was connected to her, constabulary said, including “with specified unit that [the victim’s] chemoreceptor begins to bleed.” Other instances of maltreatment allegedly included aggressively rubbing the victim’s look with a towel and pinching the country astir her mouth.

St. Cloud officials said the accused caregiver turned herself successful to the constabulary precocious Wednesday night.

“The unfortunate successful this lawsuit is wholly incapable to support herself oregon outcry retired for help,” Chief Douglas Goerke said successful the statement. “This is simply a genuinely heinous act, and we are acrophobic determination whitethorn beryllium different victims.”