An Indian-origin nurse, Leela Lal, 67, was brutally assaulted by psychiatric patient Stephen Scantlebury at Palms West Hospital in Florida. Scantlebury, 33, was under a Baker Act hold for a mental health emergency when he suddenly attacked Lal on the third floor.
Eyewitnesses said he jumped on the bed and punched her several times, leaving her severely injured. Lal received several facial fractures, and her vision can be lost permanently. She was taken to a trauma unit by helicopter after the assault.
Scantlebury has been charged and arrested with attempted second-degree murder, with a hate crime enhancement added after he was heard uttering racist remarks. He was heard saying, “Indians are bad” and “I just beat the (expletive) out of an Indian doctor.” The attack appears to be racially motivated. Megan, his wife, testified in court that Scantlebury had been paranoid for several days leading up to the incident and believed people were trying to harm him.
Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office is charging the assault as a hate crime and Lal with attempted murder. Cindy, Lal’s daughter, described the condition of her mother after the assault as, “I couldn’t recognize her. both eyes were swollen, she was intubated, her whole face on the right side was swollen, multiple fractures throughout her face, bleeding in the brain.”
