CHILLICOTHE, MISSOURI: A former respiratory therapist who admitted to claiming the lives of at least two patients and is suspected behind many more deaths, has been sentenced to 18 years behind bars, reports New York Post.
Jennifer Hall, 42, who made the headlines for sporting an "I don't f****g care" hoodie in her booking photo, was initially charged in 2022 with first-degree murder.
However, Hall was allowed to plead guilty to reduced involuntary manslaughter counts as part of a plea deal.
The victims, Fern Franco, 75, and Coval Gann, 82, who lost their lives at Hedrick Medical Center in 2022, had insulin and a powerful muscle relaxant in their systems, which was not prescribed by the doctor.
Jennifer Hall also pleaded guilty to attempted assault
According to the court records, the 42-year-old also pleaded guilty to attempted assault for putting the same concoction in the "breathing treatment apparatus" of Norma Pearson.
"A young and bright respiratory therapist had a dark and sinister need to artificially code patients," Livingston County Prosecuting Attorney Adam Warren said in a statement.
"Those of us who contemplate what Jennifer Hall is capable of will sleep better at night", he added. The victims were reportedly among nine patients who died at the Chillicothe, Missouri, facility under "medically suspicious" circumstances.
The convict worked there from December 2021 to the following May, when she was placed on leave.
Cardiac arrest cases rapidly increased while Jennifer Hall worked at the hospital
Cardiac arrest events, known as "code blues," increased to 18 during those five months, as compared to an average of one a year before then.
According to court records, hospital staff started to grow suspicious regarding Hall as she had access to the patients who suffered medical emergencies and death and also happened to be the one who reported the incidents.
Hall, however, denied any role in the deaths despite the suspicions and growing concerns among the medical staff. When asked if she had harmed the patients, Hall said "No, never" to The Kansas City Star in 2015.
"My name just gets thrown out there and it's for horrifying reasons," she told the local newspaper.
When was the case reviewed?
It was only after an analysis of Franco's tissue samples revealed the presence of unprescribed and medically unnecessary drugs, the case was reviewed.
Warren said that attorneys who represented victims' families pursued civil cases that helped investigators in their murder investigation.
The respiratory therapist had a previous conviction
Hall was previously convicted of setting a fire at another hospital but appealed the verdict and was acquitted at a second trial in 2021.
Her sentencing comes just three days before British nurse Lucy Letby, 33, was hit with life behind bars for the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of six others at a UK hospital.
