A Texas pediatric dentist has been charged in connection with the death of a cherished four-year-old girl after police said the child was given a fatal amount of sedatives during a tongue-tie procedure.
Chrishelle Hemphill, 48, was arrested Wednesday outside Cuddle Kids Dental Care, her Fort Worth pediatric dental practice, according to a police report obtained by the Daily Mail.
Hemphill now faces a felony count of injury to a child causing serious bodily injury following the April 1 death of Aithana Arriaga, who investigators say died during what was supposed to be a routine procedure at the dental office.
Aithana had been brought to the clinic for tongue-tie surgery, a common minimally invasive operation intended to release a tight or shortened strip of tissue connecting the underside of the tongue to the floor of the mouth.
Before the frenectomy began, investigators said Hemphill administered several sedatives to the girl, including an oral liquid dose of Meperidine, also known as Demerol, along with nitrous oxide and two other sedating medications.
Soon afterward, Aithana began showing signs of distress and had difficulty breathing, prompting Hemphill to perform chest compressions on the child, detectives said.
The child’s mother, Priscilla Arriaga, told police she saw Hemphill attempt to rouse her daughter with a popsicle, placing it against the girl’s lips as the child’s head “fell backwards,” according to the report.
Priscilla also told investigators she was not permitted to remain in the room during the procedure and said Hemphill had explained that her daughter would be sedated but still awake, the report stated.
Aithana Arriaga, four, died on April 1 while getting a routine tongue-tie surgery at Cuddle Kids Dental Care in Fort Worth, Texas
Chrishelle Hemphill (left), 48, was taken into custody on Wednesday and charged over Arriaga’s death after police said she gave the girl a lethal dose of sedatives during the surgery
Another dentist, who was on lunch break at the time, also rushed in and took over CPR until paramedics arrived at the office.
She ‘was showing no signs of response to the staff on scene,’ police added.
She was transported to Harris Southwest Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Arriaga’s death was ruled accidental by the Tarrant County medical examiner, who attributed it to meperidine toxicity, as detailed in the warrant.
The girl had 793 nanograms per milliliter of meperidine in her system at the time of her death.
The normal adult range for the medication is 200 to 500 nanograms per milliliter, doctors told police, the report stated.
Priscilla also recalled that her child’s leg felt cold and that her shoes were off and ‘a sock was halfway off her foot’ when she rushed into the room, the affidavit detailed.
Meanwhile, Hemphill told investigators that Arriaga stayed awake during the surgery and only started losing consciousness during her recovery, the affidavit stated.
When she started to go into distress, a staff member recalled seeing a pink liquid dripping from Arriaga’s nostrils before they started life-saving measures on the child, police said.
A board-certified anesthesiologist who reviewed the case told police that the fluid is consistent with pulmonary edema caused by respiratory failure. It is not related to an underlying sinus or breathing condition, per the report.
Hemphill gave the girl multiple sedatives, including an oral liquid solution of Meperidine, or Demerol, nitrous oxide, and two additional sedating medications, investigators said
Hemphill is facing a felony charge of injury to a child causing serious bodily injury
The warrant also stated that Hemphill was heard on the phone with 911 stating: ‘My patient won’t wake up. We sedated her. Trying to give her reversal meds.’
Hemphill gave Arriaga flumazenil, a medication that reverses benzodiazepines, but she did not have any of the central nervous system depressants in her system, the autopsy showed.
Hemphill has since been released from jail on bond for an undisclosed amount, according to arrest records reviewed by the Daily Mail.
She has been a licensed dentist in Texas since 2017 and appears to have opened Cuddle Kids Dental Care in April 2021, according to a Facebook post.
The Texas State Board of Dental Examiners is investigating Hemphill after she self-reported the fatal incident, the police report said.
A GoFundMe page was launched after Arriaga’s death so her family could raise money to have her body transported to Mexico for her funeral.
The girl’s mother, Priscilla Arriaga (pictured), said she also saw Hemphill try to wake up her daughter with a popsicle, which she held to her child’s lips as her head ‘fell backwards,’ the report stated
A GoFundMe page was launched after Arriaga’s death so her family could raise money to have her body be transported to Mexico
‘Aithana Rodríguez-Arriaga was a beautiful 4-year-old girl, filled with life and kindness. Her presence always lit up a room, and she brought so much joy to everyone around her,’ the page read.
Her heartbroken mother has taken to Facebook to share her grief after losing her daughter.
‘My greatest love left my heart empty I’m bout to die from pain,’ she wrote on June 18.
The Daily Mail contacted Hemphill, the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners, Cuddle Kids Dental Care, and the Fort Worth Police Department for comment.
