The criminal case against a Long Island nurse who appeared to slam a newborn baby's face down in an intensive care unit bassinet was dropped on Monday following a yearlong saga.
Amanda Burke was charged in April 2023 with endangering the welfare of a child at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip.
Burke was working in the NICU in Feb. 2023 when video taken by baby Nikko's father through the nursery window captured the alleged acts. The child's parents showed the hospital and confronted the nurse, and spoke with NBC New York.
"I told her 'I don’t want you to touch my child, you just slammed him,'" said Consuelo Saravia, the mother, "And she told me 'Oh no, if you think I mishandled him or anything, I’m sorry.'"
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Burke was charged with child endangerment and fired, but an investigation by state officials found her actions did “not constitute professional misconduct,” saying that the conduct involved “alleged simple negligence,” not “gross negligence.”
Initially after the conclusion of that investigation, the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office said they planned to continue to prosecute the case — until now.
On Monday, as the trial against Burke was scheduled to begin, the charges were dropped. Burke's attorney asked for the case to be dismissed and prosecutors did not fight it.
"Unfortunately, despite the disturbing video which captured the incident in this case, the New York State Department of Licensing found the defendant did not act with gross negligence. As such, we could not prove the charge beyond a reasonable doubt at trial," the Suffolk DA's office said.
Robert Gottlieb, Burke's attorney, called the ordeal "disgusting," and railed against the district attorney's office for letting the charges stand for a year.
"This has been a disgraceful prosecution," said Gottlieb. "There was no basis to find gross negligence even as a civil matter...the most they can say is by turning the baby over by the diaper was negligent, but it didn’t even rise to the level to issue a warning to sanction her in any way."
Gottlieb said that the baby was not injured in any way during the incident, and "didn't even cry."
Burke said she is "grateful" and relieved to get back to her life and looks forward to putting the situation behind her.
"Happy the nightmare is over," she said Monday. "I was harassed — people at my door, letters in my mail, emails. I have an 8-year-old, I felt like her life was in danger."
When asked if she had anything to say about the ordeal, Burke said "I never question myself when things happen in the hospital every day."
Burke was never disciplined by state officials and retained her license to continue her work as a nurse, which she continued to do throughout the aftermath of the incident.
The baby's parents were too upset to speak to NBC New York on the latest developments, but the baby's grandmother said in a statement that the family is "very, very upset with this disgusting situation and decision these people have made about my grandson and this awful woman still working as a caregiver.”
