Chappel Lee, a former nurse aid at Grady Memorial Hospital, has been arrested and charged for allegedly sexually assaulting a 73-year-old grandmother, Eva Lay, who was nearing the end of her life.
According to warrants, Lee is charged with two counts of aggravated sodomy, tampering with evidence, aggravated sexual battery, and rape, abuse, neglect, or exploitation of a disabled or elderly person.
Lee, a former nurse support tech, has been accused of raping and sexually assaulting Lay in a patient room in October 2024, according to arrest warrants.
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At first, Lay was admitted to the hospital due to congestive heart failure. She passed away a few weeks after the incident for unrelated reasons.
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The arrest comes after a legal action was filed against Fulton County’s Grady Hospital last month, according to 11 Alive.
According to attorneys Reginald Greene and L. Chris Stewart, the experience turned Lay’s final weeks into a nightmare and produced a “downward spiral in her mental health.”
Stewart had previously cited an Atlanta Police incident report when he mentioned that the nurse tech told the registered nurse overseeing Lay that he would volunteer to care for Lay’s needs. According to the police report, the nurse thought it was unusual that the nurse technician would want to check on patients. Lay’s family stated that they realized the nurse technician would flirt with the grandmother.
“He was gone for nearly 15 minutes alone in the room with Ms. Lay,” Stewart previously said. “There’s also video evidence of him cleaning up the scene, taking evidence from the sheets, and getting rid of them.”
Stewart said Lay made a video that he believes will be shown during a jury trial and alerted her family about the incident the following day. According to the lawsuit, Grady Hospital was negligent in hiring, educating, and monitoring its personnel, as well as failing to protect its most vulnerable patients.
Attorneys released a statement after Lee’s arrest, saying the family was “pleased” that he was detained for “the horrific abuse perpetrated against her.”
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“Eva Lay was a mother, grandmother, and loved by her community. She deserved dignity, care, and respect, but instead was violated by the very individual entrusted to protect her and on her journey back to health,” the statement said.
The lawyers’ statement went on to say:
“Ms. Lay’s family would like to extend their deepest appreciation to the detectives and officers with the Atlanta Police Department who diligently investigated this case.
“Grady Memorial Hospital failed in its legal and moral duty to protect one of its most vulnerable patients from this kind of unimaginable trauma. This hospital’s negligence allowed a predator to violate her in unimaginable ways.”
Christopher Davis, Lay’s grandson, described her as a source of strength.
“She was always strong, as my family said,” Davis said. “No matter what it was, she was always at her most strength, optimistic mentality. For the first time, I actually witnessed her feel broken.”
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