Illinois EMS workers charged with murder of patient in their care

Two emergency medical service workers in Illinois have been charged with first-degree murder in the death of a 35-year-old patient under their care after improperly restraining him in an ambulance.

Sangamon County State’s Attorney Dan Wright said Tuesday in a press conference that LifeStar EMS workers Peggy Finley, 44, and Peter Cadigan, 50, were charged in the death of 35-year-old Earl L. Moore Jr. on Dec. 18.

Wright said police were called to Moore’s residence and found him suffering from a hallucinatory episode and immediately called EMS for patient care.

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Finley and Cadigan were tasked with transporting Moore in an ambulance. The pair allegedly placed Moore face-down on a paramedic stretcher and incorrectly tied him down with a medical strap across Moore’s back and lower body.

“Following the arrival of EMS, Earl Moore Jr. became the victim of acts which caused his death at the hands of individuals called by police to provide emergency medical care,” Wright said.

An autopsy revealed that Moore died from “compressional and positional asphyxia due to prone face-down restraint on a paramedic transportation cot stretcher by tightened straps across the back.”

The pair should have known from their training and experience that positioning a patient in such a way “would create a substantial probability of great bodily harm or death,” Wright added.

Finley and Cadigan were booked into the Sangamon County Jail on a $1 million bond each. If found guilty, both EMS workers face up to 20 to 60 years in prison.

LifeStar Ambulance Service did not immediately reply to Fox New’s Digitals request for comment.