LUFKIN, Texas (AP) _ A nurse who worked eight months at the busiest dialysis clinic in Lufkin is now charged over the deaths of five patients.
The turbulent final month on the job for Kimberly Saenz is what led to the criminal investigation.
One patient after another died last April after appointments at the Lufkin Dialysis Center, operated by DaVita Inc.
Now prosecutors claim Saenz deliberately injected 10 patients with bleach, killing five of them. Investigators have offered no hint at a motive.
Saenz this week was charged with one count of capital murder covering five patients. She was also charged with aggravated assault against five other patients who were allegedly injected with bleach but survived.
Among them was Debra Oates, who left the clinic by ambulance April 26 when her arm wouldn’t stop bleeding. Her nurse that day was Saenz, who Oates said often helped her pass the dreary, hours-long dialysis treatments by telling jokes.
Investigators believe Saenz used syringes to inject bleach into dialysis lines.
She remains in custody.