FAYETTE COUNTY, Tenn. — A nurse accused of having meth, marijuana and hundreds of stolen prescription pills in her car has been indicted on 37 criminal charges, and the indictment accuses her of taking those medications from a children’s behavioral facility where she worked.
Last December, state troopers say LaTisha Hayden swerved off Interstate-40 East in Fayette County and they found marijuana and a pillow case full of 600 stolen prescription pills in her car. Troopers also said Hayden confessed to having four grams of meth in her anus.
We got a copy of the indictment, which provided more details about the drugs she allegedly stole including different types of antibiotics, mood stabilizers and blood pressure medications.
Hayden was a nurse at Madison Oaks Behavioral Academy in Jackson, Tennessee. A teenager who remembered Hayden wanted to tell us about the nurse she once adored.
“I was at Madison Oaks Academy. I was at a facility,” said a 16-year-old girl, who asked us to hide her face. “After I got there, about a week later she finally came in.”
The girl said Hayden gave her medicine while she was at the facility.
“She was one of my favorite nurses. She was really sweet to the kids. She listened to us,” said the teen.
She was upset to hear Hayden allegedly stole her mood stabilizers.
“I’m just like why would you take from kids who are here needing help?” said the teen.
Now looking back, she said she remembers one incident when she asked Hayden for a Band-Aid.
“She’d be somewhere messing with the medication, and when I came up there, she jumped. I thought maybe I was just scaring her, but I see why now,” said the teen.
Hayden worked at a number of different offices, and her license remains active despite the state knowing about her criminal charges.
We’ve tried reaching out to Hayden to get her side of the story, but have yet to hear back.
The teen we talked to says she just hopes Hayden is getting the help she needs.
“I honestly do. She’s really sweet from when I met her,” she said.
WREG will keep you updated on what happens with Hayden’s case.
In the meantime, Madison Oaks stated it’s made changes to the way prescription medications are handled.
Below is a list of the medications she is accused of stealing:
- Cephalexin
- Sertraline
- bupropion hydrochloride
- aripiprazole
- amoxicillin
- augmentin
- lithium
- prazosin hydrochloride
- clonidine hydrochloride
- prazosin
- propranolol
- oxcarbazepine
- lamotrigine
- olanzapine
- latuda
- risperidone
- hydroxyzine pamoate
- aripiprazole
- sertraline
