Nurse Pleads Innocent in 2 Patient Deaths
A registered nurse charged with attempting to kill two dying patients in her care at Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills has pleaded not guilty in San Fernando Municipal Court.
Linda Sue Rangel, 35, of Canyon Country entered pleas Friday to two counts of attempted murder in the deaths of Lorraine Sammons, 50, of Lake View Terrace and Pedro Contreras, 40, of Sun Valley.
Sammons and Contreras had shot themselves and were on life-support systems, said Los Angeles Police Sgt. Phil Vannatter.
Rangel lowered the oxygen level on the mechanical ventilators keeping Sammons and Contreras alive, Vannatter said.
Sammons died Feb. 5, 1987, about an hour after the ventilator was adjusted, and Contreras died June 16, 1987, 4 hours after the oxygen level was altered, authorities said.
The nurse made the decision to change the ventilation without consulting the patients’ families or their doctors, Deputy Dist. Atty. Lee Harris said. Rangel resigned from the hospital staff last year.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled Feb. 3 in San Fernando Municipal Court for Rangel, who is free on $15,000 bail.
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