LOCAL : Psychiatric Test Ordered for Nurse Charged in 2 Mission Hills Deaths
A registered nurse who was charged with hastening the deaths of two dying patients in her care at Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills was ordered today to undergo psychiatric evaluation before standing trial.
Linda Rangel, 35, of Canyon Country will be examined by two psychiatrists appointed by San Fernando Superior Court Judge John H. Major before she is tried for her role in the deaths of Lorraine Sammons, 50, of Lake View Terrace and Pedro Contreras, 40, of Sun Valley.
Rangel was arrested on Nov. 21 and charged with two counts of attempted murder in connection with the deaths of Sammons and Contreras. Both patients had shot themselves and were receiving oxygen from mechanical ventilators.
Authorities said that in both cases Rangel lowered the oxygen level on the patients’ ventilators without consulting the patients’ families or the doctors attending them.
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