Fort Worth, TX- A Fort Worth pediatric dentist is facing serious criminal charges after a 4-year-old girl died of a drug overdose during a tongue-tie removal procedure at her dental practice earlier this year — and investigators say the evidence against her is damning.
Chrishelle Hemphill, 48, was arrested on July 15 and charged with injury to a child causing serious bodily injury. She has since been released on a $10,000 bond.
The victim, Aithana Rodriguez Arriaga, was brought to Hemphill’s practice — Cuddle Kids Dental Care on Sycamore School Road in southwest Fort Worth — on April 1 for a frenectomy, a procedure to remove a tongue-tie. A preschool teacher had suggested the little girl might have the condition because of difficulty pronouncing certain words.
Aithana never woke up after the procedure. The Fort Worth Fire Department rushed her to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
An autopsy revealed the opioid Demerol in the child’s blood at 793 nanograms per milliliter — far above the 200 to 500 nanograms per milliliter considered acceptable even for an adult. Hemphill allegedly administered 30 milligrams of the drug to the child. Another pediatric dentist consulted by investigators said the maximum safe dose for a child of that age would have been 10 milligrams.
Investigators say the errors did not stop there. When Aithana became unresponsive, staff at the practice administered the wrong reversal drug. Because Demerol is an opioid, Narcan should have been used — but doctors gave flumazenil, which only reverses benzodiazepines. When officers later searched the practice, Hemphill could not show them where Narcan was stored.
“Throughout this investigation I have learned from Hemphill’s own statements, her staff’s statements and from medical professionals that there was evident neglect on Hemphill’s part that led to Aithana’s death,” Fort Worth Police Detective J. Spragins wrote in the arrest warrant.
Friends and family remembered Aithana as a joyful child who lit up every room she entered. A GoFundMe has been set up in her memory.
The case remains under active investigation. Hemphill has not yet entered a formal plea.