WELLINGTON, Fla. — A series of troubling events began on Feb. 17 when Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputies encountered Stephen Scantlebury outside a Dunkin' Donuts in Wellington.
This encounter, captured on body camera footage, occurred just one day before a nurse at HCA Palms West Hospital was critically injured in an alleged attack by Scantlebury.
During the interaction with deputies, Scantlebury described having a family dispute and expressed concerns over "things" going on in his life. His mother also voiced worries about her son’s mental health to the deputies.
WATCH: Deputies talk to Scantlebury outside Dunkin' Donuts
In the body camera video, a deputy asks Scantlebury if he would like to see a mental health professional, to which Scantlebury responds, "Ha, no."
Deputies, after trying to reason with and help Scantlebury for an hour, ultimately determined that Scantlebury was not a danger to himself at that time. As one deputy stated, "I went through everything I can think of, I can’t force him."
The next day, Scantlebury reportedly went to Palms West Hospital, where he allegedly attacked nurse Leelamma Lal while under a psychiatric hold.
Roughly a week following the brutal attack, inspectors from Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration reviewed the hospital’s safety regulations. Inspectors reported finding "no deficiencies" in the regulations.
Cindy Joseph, the daughter of the victim, expressed her concerns in a phone interview, stating, "protocol needs to be reevaluated." She emphasized that while the hospital is not in violation of current regulations, she believes they need to be adapted to prevent future incidents.
"I’m afraid if things aren’t changed, it’s going to happen again," Joseph said.
We reached out to HCA Palms West Hospital for a statement regarding the Agency for Health Care Administration's report but have not heard back.
Joseph also provided an update on her mother’s condition. She said Lal “had extensive facial reconstruction this past weekend.”
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Joseph said her mother is in a lot of pain, and explained “it takes quite a while for her to eat, because it's a slow process to give her, you know, feeding through a syringe tube.”
As for Scantlebury, court records show on Tuesday a doctor was chosen who will perform the psychiatric evaluation on him. A subpoena was also issued for all of his medical records in the days before, during, and after the attack as well as any videos/photos of Scantlebury while at Palms West.
Scantlebury is still currently being held in the Palm Beach County Jail, charged with attempted murder.
