Nia Ayers (St. Cloud Police Department)
A Florida home health nurse is accused of abusing the teen she was hired to care for after allegedly being seen on camera nearly suffocating her patient.
Nia Ayers, 24, is charged with aggravated abuse of the elderly or disabled, the St. Cloud Police Department announced Thursday. According to an arrest warrant reviewed by Law&Crime, the 18-year-old victim is “developmentally disabled, non verbal and unable to care for herself,” and is also quadriplegic and has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy. She is “entirely dependent on her caregivers for all aspects of daily living and survival” and requires full-time care, the warrant notes.
Ayers was not a stranger to her alleged victim; according to the warrant, she had been taking care of the teen on Fridays for about a year.
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The teen’s mother first noticed “red scratches” around her daughter’s “mouth area and eyelid” on May 3, and when she reviewed security footage from Ayers shift, she “observed several instances where Ayers was aggressive and abusive with her daughter while caring for her that evening.”
The mother called police and shared the footage, which one officer recounted in the warrant.
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“I observed Ayers place tape on [the victim’s] mouth and then very aggressively hold a wash cloth tight to [the victim’s] mouth,” the warrant said. “I observed Ayers then aggressively rip the tape off [the victim’s] mouth.” According to the mother, the tape was only meant to be used to keep the victim’s eyes closed when she sleeps, but was never to be used on her mouth.
The alleged abuse worsened, the warrant says, with Ayers reportedly adjusting her patient’s body by “yanking her left arm very aggressively.” She is also seen holding a washcloth over the girl’s mouth, “appearing to be hindering [the victim’s] breathing,” the warrant said. This apparently happened at least twice, and both times, the victim was seen trying to move away from Ayers and was clearly in distress.
Ayers was also allegedly seen “shaking” the patient’s breathing machine while the device was connected to her, police said, including “with such force that [the victim’s] nose begins to bleed.” Other instances of abuse allegedly included aggressively rubbing the victim’s face with a towel and pinching the area around her mouth.
St. Cloud officials said the accused nurse turned herself in to the police late Wednesday night.
“The victim in this case is completely unable to defend herself or cry out for help,” Chief Douglas Goerke said in the statement. “This is a truly heinous act, and we are concerned there may be other victims.”
