A deranged nurse accused of breaking the legs of seven newborn babies in her care has been branded a ‘racist’ who targeted black children, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.
Erin Strotman has been charged with malicious wounding and child abuse following the incidents at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital in Richmond, Virginia.
The 26-year-old is accused by hospital staff of initially only harming black babies, with sources saying she “shifted her focus” when she returned to the hospital in late 2024.
This was after she and three others were suspended from pay from the neonatal intensive care unit in 2023, when four babies were found to have ‘unexplained fractures’.
One told DailyMail.com: ‘The majority of the babies were black babies. When she returned and they noticed the pattern, she tried to throw them off by targeting a white baby and a girl baby.
‘She wasn’t the strongest in the class, she was literally one of the slowest. People say she’s a white supremacist, but that’s a bit of an exaggeration.
I definitely felt like she was racist, she had deep southern roots.
“I was surprised by what she did, but I’m not surprised it was her. If anyone did something crazy, she would have been at the top of the list.”
The hospital announced on Christmas Eve last year that it would “not be admitting any additional babies to our NICU at this time” after three babies were found with fractures in late November and December.
Former classmates of 26-year-old Erin Strotman, who is accused of breaking babies’ legs, said she was ‘weird’ and always ‘in the background’ during their training
Erin Strotman has been charged with malicious wounding and child abuse after seven incidents at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital in Richmond, Virginia.
Strotman is seen with her family after graduating from nursing school in 2019. They declined to comment on her arrest, with one telling DailyMail.com: ‘I don’t want to talk about that’
Sources told DailyMail.com that during the investigation, four nurses were initially suspended on full pay for almost a year.
But they were all allowed to return to work after CPS was unable to prove who targeted the babies.
The hospital later installed “angel cameras” that allowed constant monitoring of the premature babies. The staff claimed that was how Strotman was caught.
Officials confirmed the injuries were “similar to an incident involving four infants in the summer of 2023,” with Henrico County police reviewing “dozens of videos” from inside the unit.
Detectives are re-examining the 2023 and 2024 cases as part of the wider investigation.
Hospital staff are shocked that Strotman was allowed to return to work, a nurse told DailyMail.com: “Virginia has a right to work, so you don’t have to have a reason to fire someone.
“If you even suspected that these people were harming babies, you can cut them off,” added the nurse, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“But why let them come back and harm more babies? They shouldn’t have let her come back.
Henrico Hospital announced on Christmas Eve last year that it would “not be admitting any additional babies into our NICU at this time” after three babies were found with fractures
The hospital later installed “angel cameras” that allowed constant monitoring of the premature babies. The staff claimed that is how Strotman was caught and charged
The nurse said that some fractures are common during childbirth.
‘Shoulders and collarbones break all the time coming out of the birth canal, but legs never do.
‘It would have to be a lot of coincidence for that fracture to be the same as in all those babies.
‘It would be like trying to break a pencil. You have to put some force behind it. That’s highly unlikely unless you accidentally drop one of them and break his lower leg, below the knee, and that’s what was broken.”
Despite the injuries, the babies are reportedly all doing well and recovering after being transferred to different hospitals.
Those who trained and worked with Strotman told DailyMail.com they were shocked she was placed on the specialized unit in the first place.
One described her as ‘weird’ and always ‘in the background’ during their training at ECPI University in Richmond.
Footage obtained by DailyMail.com shows Strotman smiling as she crosses the stage to receive her associate degree in nursing in 2019.
The course is an accelerated program lasting just 18 months, with Strotman’s fellow graduates describing her as the “weakest” in their class.
They were shocked when she was chosen over their course leader to work in the NICU, adding that she “never talked about working with babies.”
Exclusive photos from DailyMail.com show the inside of Strotman’s apartment covered in used training pads after her arrest – sources told DailyMail.com that she ‘smelled like a farm’ and often spoke about her rescue animals
Noah Hackey was one of seven babies who suffered unexplained injuries at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital in Richmond, Virginia. He suffered a broken leg after his premature birth
“It’s crazy that they chose a new student to work there instead of our teacher,” one said. ‘She was always lurking in a corner somewhere, wasn’t really good at anything, and she never took the time to focus on it.
“She never talked about working with babies, and she was one of the last people we thought would do that.”
“She had this back and forth with a guy, she really liked him and completely changed herself, dyed her hair and changed who she was to try to get this guy.
“And then he ended up running off with another girl and they had a son together. Some of us speculate that this could be why she chose to hurt boys.
“We all said she was weird, but she changes and plays against whoever is in charge, and they say she’s not that bad. But we all knew that a tiger doesn’t change its stripes.’
Strotman previously worked in the progressive nursery (PNCU), which treated full-term infants and infants from the general population, before moving to the neonatal intensive care unit.
Those who knew her added that she always “smelled like a farm,” with mothers who had their children cared for by Strotman confirming that she talked about her rescue animals.
Exclusive photos from DailyMail.com show the inside of Strotman’s apartment covered in used workout pads after her arrest.
Noah’s father Dominique Hackey contacted child protective services and discovered that Noah had been physically abused. He went outside after discovering that there was probably a nurse behind it
Her family declined to comment on her arrest, with one telling DailyMail.com: ‘I don’t want to talk about that’ when contacted.
Strotman’s arrest came after Dominique and Tori Hackey spoke out after Virginia Child Services informed them that their newborn baby Noah had been abused by a NICU worker when he suffered a broken leg following his premature birth.
Authorities opened an investigation into the unexplained fractures after four babies were injured in the summer of 2023 and another three were injured in November and December this year.
The case is similar to that of British serial killer sister Lucy Letby, although no deaths have been reported.
Strotman was denied bond during a hearing in Henrico on Friday and will appear in court in March.