HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — Former NICU nurse Erin Strotman will remain in jail as the court waits for the findings of a mental health evaluation, Henrico County Circuit Court Judge Richard S. Wallerstein Jr. decided Wednesday morning.
Strotman appeared in person for the 50-minute bond appeal hearing after a Henrico judge denied her release last week citing safety concerns.
Strotman's attorney, Jeff Everhart, said the results of a mental health evaluation performed at the jail weren’t sent to him in time for Wednesday’s hearing.
Judge Wallerstein requested that Everhart set up a psychological evaluation by a third party and to hear those results at a hearing scheduled for next month.
Strotman is accused of causing multiple fractures to a five-month-old baby boy on Nov. 10, 2024, at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital.
Hospital officials said three babies were found with unexplained fractures in November and December of last year. Prosecutors said the case is similar to injuries suffered by other infants during the Summer of 2023.
WATCH RELATED COVERAGE: Surveillance video shows nurse abusing baby in Virginia hospital's NICU (Jan. 10)
In court Wednesday, Strotman’s family and friends, along with family members of the babies, listened to prosecutors share gruesome details about the allegations.
The prosecution repeated the same concerns they shared with the judge last week. They said Strotman has received threats from both inside and outside the jail, though they said the safest plan for both her and the public is for her to remain locked up.
Text messages revealed
Prosecutor Allison Martin shared text messages from Strotman that showed evidence of Strotman’s alleged mental health and substance abuse issues.
In one of the text messages from Oct. 21, 2023, Strotman stated she had been pacing, felt “up like I did cocaine again,” but she had not, and had self-diagnosed herself with borderline personality disorder. She wrote, “I feel manic. It takes everything in me not to start sh—,” according to Martin.
On the day before she was arrested, Martin said Strotman wrote in a text, “My therapist's office is closed, I am five seconds away from checking myself into crisis.”
Martin said Strotman sees a psychiatrist and counselor and takes two medications for anxiety and depression.
Judge Wallerstein said those details concerned him when taking into consideration her bond status.
However, Everhart said his client is not a flight risk and would be safer in her parents’ gated community. He mentioned Strotman is 26 years old and doesn't have a criminal record.
He said she intended to visit the Henrico Police Department to talk to investigators but was arrested a day before.
"I feel anger"
Dominique Hackey's son, Noah, was one of the babies injured at the hospital in September of 2023. He said he felt the need to be in the courtroom for Strotman's bond appeal hearing.
“I feel anger that I have to be here to show up for my son, for the rest of the 2023 babies because somebody abused our children,” Hackey told reporters after court.
Strotman was placed on paid administrative leave in 2023 after the hospital conducted an internal investigation into the initial cases. Prosecutors said CPS and Henrico Police investigated but were unable to identify a single perpetrator.
Now, investigators have reopened Noah’s case.
“I'm confident in [Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorney] Shannon [Taylor], Allison, and their ability to be able to get our babies justice,” Hackey stated.
Strotman’s continued bond appeal hearing is set for Feb. 11 at 8 a.m. in Henrico Circuit Court.
Prosecutors said Strotman should face additional charges after the Grand Jury meets in March. They mentioned detectives are combing through every minute of surveillance video from when the former nurse was alone with babies.
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