A resident at a Pennsylvania nursing home called 911 at 2:53 a.m. and reported that a nurse was trying to kill people. Four calls and more than half an hour later, police finally reached the room.
What they found became the starting point for a Northampton County investigating grand jury examination of Gracedale Nursing Home, a county-owned facility in Nazareth.
The grand jury report says the agency licensed practical nurse, Octavia Lasha Robinson, was standing over a hospice resident identified as E.B. when officers arrived on June 23, 2025. Robinson had her fingers pressed into the resident’s mouth, while blood was visible on the resident’s clothing and bedding and on items scattered around the room.
The episode was described by witnesses as an attempt to drive demons from the resident. The report says Robinson repeatedly spoke about demonic possession as police took her into custody.
But the grand jury’s account is not just about what happened inside one room. It reconstructs a 34-minute stretch in which another resident repeatedly asked for help while calls were routed among the county 911 center, Gracedale staff and Upper Nazareth police.
Four Calls
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The report says a Gracedale resident identified as L.K. made the first 911 call at 2:53 a.m. and told a dispatcher a nurse was trying to kill people on the seventh floor. A dispatcher contacted supervisors at Gracedale, and Upper Nazareth Officer Zachary Dugan was notified at 2:56 a.m. Records reviewed by the grand jury showed Dugan closed the call at 3 a.m. without going to the facility.
L.K. called again at 3:05 a.m. She reported that the nurse was trying to kill someone, was talking about “getting the demons out” of the victim and would not let anyone else leave the room. Dugan was dispatched again at 3:08 a.m., while the 911 center again contacted Gracedale.
At 3:18 a.m., L.K. called a third time and expressed frustration that nobody had responded. Two minutes later, a dispatcher reached a Gracedale supervisor, who said staff would contact L.K. and “take her phone away or something,” according to the grand jury report.
The fourth call came at 3:22 a.m., this time from a nursing supervisor. She reported that Robinson was acting strangely, would not leave the room and would not let anyone in or out. Multiple officers were dispatched at 3:25 a.m. Dugan arrived at Gracedale at approximately 3:27 a.m., and Robinson was taken into custody at 3:32 a.m.
Inside The Room
The grand jury reviewed Dugan’s body-camera footage. Its report says officers entered the room and saw Robinson standing over E.B. with her fingers pressed into the resident’s mouth. Blood was on the bedding and E.B.’s clothing, and towels and other items — some also bloodied — were on the floor.
Dugan later told the grand jury that Robinson did not initially comply when ordered to remove her hand and step away. He drew his Taser, but officers were able to take her into custody without further incident.
As Robinson was being placed in a patrol car and transported to a hospital, the report says she continued saying E.B. had demons inside her that needed to come out. Robinson was held for an involuntary psychiatric evaluation, and criminal charges were filed after her release.
Northampton County’s trial records have listed Robinson on charges of abuse of a care-dependent person, simple assault and harassment. Lehigh Daily reported on Sept. 10 that her trial is scheduled for Oct. 5 before Judge John M. Morganelli.
Beyond One Night
The grand jury expanded its inquiry beyond Robinson’s alleged assault and examined resident safety, staffing, security and the way emergencies were handled at Gracedale.
Separate Pennsylvania Department of Health inspection records document serious supervision problems later in 2025. A September inspection found an immediate-jeopardy deficiency after a resident with dementia left the facility twice within days, including once after one-to-one supervision had been ordered but no replacement was available when the assigned worker’s shift ended.
Other state records show Gracedale was cited in August 2025 for failing to meet minimum nurse-aide staffing ratios on some reviewed shifts. The state’s current facility listing shows the 688-bed home operating under a Provisional II license.
A New Response
After the grand jury report was accepted for public filing, Northampton County Executive Tara Zrinski said it raised serious issues involving care, safety, staffing, security and management systems at Gracedale.
In a Sept. 10 county statement, Zrinski said corrective work was already underway. The administration listed plans to reduce reliance on outside staffing agencies, strengthen quality-assurance monitoring, review security and emergency-response procedures and increase executive oversight of the nursing home.
The county said Thomas Carson had been hired as director of the Continuum of Care to provide focused oversight of Gracedale, and said additional updates on implementation and progress would be provided to residents, families, employees and County Council.