Nurse charged in death of former Trump adviser’s father
PHILADELPHIA » A nurse was charged Thursday in the death of the father of President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser after authorities said she failed to give him a series of neurological exams following his fall at a Philadelphia senior care facility.
Christann Shyvin Gainey, 30, was charged with involuntary manslaughter, neglect and records tampering in the death of H.R. McMaster Sr.
The 84-year-old retired U.S. Army officer died April 13, about eight hours after falling and hitting his head at the Cathedral Village retirement community.
Surveillance video showed that Gainey, who worked as a contract nurse at Cathedral Village, failed to conduct a series of eight neurological evaluations of McMaster as required, prosecutors said. Gainey then allegedly falsified documents to make it seem she had.
Gainey’s attorney, Sharon Piper, said her client intends to plead not guilty. She declined further comment, as did Gainey’s employer, General Healthcare Resources of Plymouth Meeting.
McMaster’s son, H.R. McMaster Jr., served as Trump’s national security adviser from February 2017 until he resigned in March.
“Our father ... was a tough and compassionate soldier and public servant,” McMaster’s daughter, Letitia McMaster, said in a statement. “The best way to honor his memory is for all of us to do all we can to prevent others from suffering at the hands of those who lack compassion and abandon even the most basic standards of human decency. Today’s charges are an important step forward in that connection.”
McMaster was admitted to Cathedral Village on April 9 for rehabilitation following a stroke. Three days later, according to court documents, he was found on the floor of his room by a nursing assistant, who alerted Gainey, the charge nurse.
Cathedral Village policy mandates close neurological monitoring of patients who hit their heads, including assessments every 15 minutes for the first hour and every hour for the next three.