A home health nurse in Florida has been arrested for allegedly assaulting an 18-year-old disabled woman under her care.
Nia Ayers, 24, has been charged with aggravated abuse of the elderly or disabled after investigators received unsettling footage from home security cameras, according to a St. Cloud Police Department news release.
The victim, a non-verbal quadriplegic lady with cerebral palsy, was allegedly abused several times while under Ayers’ care. Police claim Ayers was recorded on video repeatedly taping the young woman’s mouth shut and then tearing it off.
She was also observed holding a washcloth to cover the victim’s mouth and “shaking the nonverbal patient’s biPAP breathing machine while the device was connected to the patient’s nose,” according to the release.
According to police, the woman’s mother observed scratches and scrapes on her daughter’s face, prompting her to study house camera footage and alert law enforcement.
“This is a truly heinous act,” Chief of Police Douglas Goerke declared. “The victim in this case is completely unable to defend herself or cry out for help.”
Ayers turned herself in to St. Cloud police on May 7 and was placed into the Osceola County Department of Corrections the next day. She is currently being held without a bond.
Reference: Florida Nurse Arrested for Allegedly Abusing 18-Year-Old Disabled Woman: ‘A Heinous Act’
