Oct. 26 (UPI) — A former nurse in North Carolina has been charged with murdering two patients with lethal doses of insulin and attempting to kill a third.
The suspect, Johnathan Hayes, was charged with two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill announced at a press conference Wednesday.
Authorities believe the killings were deliberate and premeditated. The first victim, Gwen Crawford, 61, was given a lethal dose of insulin on Jan. 5 and died on Jan. 8, while the second victim, Vickie Lingerfelt, 62, was given a lethal dose of insulin on Jan. 22 and died on Jan. 27.
Hayes was fired from his position as a nurse at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C., this March after the facility was informed that he may have murdered a patient.
“Johnathan Hayes has forfeited the honor of being called nurse. From this day forth, he’ll be known as a ‘defendant,'” O’Neill told reporters.
No details on a potential motive for the killings were shared and an investigation into the incidents is ongoing.
O’Neill described Hayes as a “rogue nurse” stating that there was no evidence he knew the patients before the incidents and that authorities believe he acted alone.
“No one in this community should hesitate or be reluctant to seek treatment from Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center or any of our outstanding healthcare facilities that we’re blessed to have here in Forsyth County,” O’Neill added.
