The father of a baby who was allegedly abused by a nurse in a Virginia hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit has revealed the one trait that all seven victims share.
Dominique Hackey’s son Noah suffered an unexplained tibia fracture while in the NICU at the Henrico County Doctors’ Hospital in Richmond in September 2023.
The hospital shut down its NICU last month after launching an internal investigation into seven incidents of ‘unexplainable fractures’ suffered by newborn patients in 2023 and 2024.
Hackey, whose son’s case is currently under investigation by police, says that there only appears to be one common thread in all the cases – the gender of the victims.
‘There were all different injuries, and two boys had multiple injuries,’ he told Fox News Tuesday, adding that the victims’ parents ‘can’t find a pattern of why our babies, other than that, they were just boys.’
Registered nurse Erin Elizabeth Ann Strotman, 26, was arraigned Friday on charges of malicious wounding and felony child abuse over an incident on November 10, 2024, according to Henrico County Police.
Strotman appeared by video and the judge determined that she should be held in jail without bond. The two charges against Strotman filed on January 2 stem from her alleged abuse of one baby.
At least five state and county agencies are now investigating the incidents of abuse against all seven babies, including Noah Hackey.
Dominique Hackey’s son Noah suffered an unexplained tibia fracture while in the NICU at the Henrico County Doctors’ Hospital in Richmond, Virginia in September 2023. Noah is pictured in the NICU
Erin Elizabeth Ann Strotman, 26, has been arrested and charged with the abuse of one baby. Though multiple agencies are investigating the injuries of six other babies who were at one point were in the NICU at Henrico County Doctors’ Hospital in Richmond
Pictured: An X-ray of the fracture to Noah’s leg that was provided by his father Dominique Hackey
Dominique and Tori Hackey welcomed their twin boys, Noah and Micah, in August 2023. Noah was doing well until Dominique noticed his left leg was not moving.
‘It was kind of discolored. I told the doctor on staff, got some x-rays, and we determined he had a fracture to his leg. So we are going to splint it for the next two weeks and then she was like do you want to hold him?’ Dominique told WTVR.
The couple said they did not want to hold Noah for fears the hospital would blame them for the injury.
‘In my mind I’m like, I don’t want them to turn it around on us and say we broke his leg or anything like that so I was like no, we don’t want to hold him, we are just going to process this,’ Dominique added.
An X-ray showed that Noah’s tibia had been fractured, and, according to Dominique, the hospital suggested the injury was accidental.
Dominique Hackey, (pictured) whose son’s case is currently under investigation by police, says that there only appears to be one common thread in all the cases – the gender of the victims
‘That’s what they told us, that it could have been done because an injection was given and maybe they did it too hard and it caused the fracture,’ Dominique said.
Dominique said it concerned him so he contacted child services. In September he received a review of their investigation, which found there was level-one physical abuse of Noah – the worst level in Virginia.
Noah has since fully recovered from the injury.
In October police informed the Hackeys that other babies had also been mysteriously injured at the Richmond hospital.
The hospital told the Hackeys that they implemented preventative measures like cameras in the NICU and more training.
But the hospital shut down its NICU in late December after the measures failed to prevent three more babies being injured in November and December.
Dominique was present at Strotman’s arraignment, with three of the other families who had babies that were allegedly abused at the NICU.
The charges Strotman faces are not related to the bone fracture that was suffered by young Noah. Investigators still have not confirmed who allegedly abused the baby.
‘For that father and that mother, I felt how I felt when I learned that my son had a fracture. That I was helpless,’ he told WTVR. ‘What this person did, it makes me sick. It truly makes me sick.’
Strotman, pictured in a cap and gown, is charged with malicious wounding and felony child abuse. She could face 30 years in prison if convicted consecutively of both crimes
At her hearing Friday, it was confirmed that Strotman was a nurse at the Henrico County Doctors’ Hospital in Richmond and was being paid through to at least Thanksgiving of 2024.
Strotman, who got her nursing degree in 2019, worked in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) when four babies were injured in the summer of 2023.
Even after the hospital put cameras in place to monitor employees, three more babies had ‘unexplainable fractures’ in late November and December of 2024, WRIC reported.
‘The maximum statutory penalty for felony child neglect is 10 years of incarceration and the maximum statutory penalty for felony malicious wounding is 20 years of incarceration,’ Taylor said. She could face 30 years in prison if convicted consecutively of both crimes.
While in jail, Strotman has been ordered to cease contact with anyone under the age of 18. She is scheduled to appear in court next on March 24.
Henrico Doctors’ Hospital’s NICU, which takes care of critically ill newborns, has 40 treatment areas. The hospital delivers around 4,500 babies every year.
Henrico Doctors’ Hospital’s NICU, which takes care of critically ill newborns, has 40 treatment areas. The hospital delivers around 4,500 babies every year
While hospital officials acknowledge ‘fractures occasionally happen’ these fractures appeared to be a cause for concern.
Investigators went about reviewing video footage from inside the NICU to determine if there had been any staff misconduct or unreported accidents.
A hospital statement on Friday said that the NICU is ‘not admitting new patients’ at this time.
The scrutiny on the hospital’s practices began in 2023 after a couple who had twins delivered there noticed a leg fracture on one of the babies.
