A home health nurse in Florida has been arrested for allegedly abusing an 18-year-old disabled woman under her care.
Nia Ayers, 24, has been charged with aggravated abuse of the elderly or disabled after authorities received disturbing footage from home security cameras, according to a St. Cloud Police Department news release.
The victim, a non-verbal quadriplegic woman with cerebral palsy, was allegedly assaulted several times while in Ayers’ care. Police say Ayers was caught on video repeatedly taping the young woman’s mouth shut and then ripping it off.
She was also seen holding a washcloth to cover the victim’s mouth and “shaking the nonverbal patient’s biPAP breathing machine while the device was connected to the patient’s nose,” according to the release.
According to police, the woman’s mother noticed cuts and scrapes on her daughter’s face, prompting her to review home camera footage and contact law enforcement.
“This is a truly heinous act,” Chief of Police Douglas Goerke declared. “The victim in this case is completely unable to defend herself or cry out for help.”
Ayers turned herself in to St. Cloud police on May 7 and was booked into the Osceola County Department of Corrections the next day. She is currently being held without a bond.
