There's nothing more chilling than someone who dedicates themselves to being a caregiver of any kind, only to turn around and hurt the people in their care.
It seems Jennifer Anne Hall falls into this category. The former respiratory therapist for Hedrick Medical Center, a hospital in rural Mississippi, has been charged with the murder of a patient in her care 20 years ago. Hall was employed by the hospital for just five months. In those months, the hospital saw an alarming increase in sudden cardiac arrest events.
Of 18 incidents, half of the patients survived, while half died. Among those who died was 75-year-old Fern Franco. Hall is currently charged with murder in the first degree for Franco's death.
Livingston County Prosecuting Attorney Adam Warren first launched an investigation into the death of Fern Franco in 2012, a decade after her death. He didn't disclose why it was launched so far after the death, but it would be another decade until there were more answers.
Warren revealed Franco died from lethal doses of succinylcholine — a relaxant that paralyzes the respiratory muscles — and the pain reliever morphine. This information, combined with the rise in cardiac arrest events in the five months Hall was employed at the hospital, was referenced in the probable cause statement. The 18 incidents during her time there compared to an average of 1 per year prior to her employment.
Franco was being treated for pneumonia at the time. Her death was not peaceful, with her being fully conscious as she suffocated slowly.
"Hall's victim was a sick, defenseless, elderly woman who was depending on Hall to care for physical ailment within a medical facility," Chillicothe Police Department Officer Brian Schmidt penned in the probable cause statement.
The other patients who died also suffered complicated deaths in many instances. Charles O'Hara, an 88-year-old World War II veteran, arrived for vomiting and a high fever and died two days later, similarly to 82-year-old retired conservation agent Coval Gann. David Harper, 37, and 49-year-old Shirley Eller were on the verge of being discharged when both died.
Despite these offenses, Hall was not fired for the cardiac events or for any particular death. Rather, she was fired because hospital administration learned Hall had been previously convicted of arson. She allegedly set fire to another small Missouri hospital, Cass Regional Medical Center in Harrisonville, where she worked at the time. She appealed the conviction and was later acquitted.
Authorities have not revealed if they are looking into the other deaths or if any charges will result from them. Family members of others who have died hope that Franco's case may be the first step toward widespread justice.
