This week, a New Hanover County man pleaded guilty at a disposition hearing in two cases of attempted murder, nearly three years following the crime. The defendant, Rothwell J. Simmons was arrested in January of 2022 for the attempted murder and strangulation of two Novant Health nurses.
Assistant District Attorney Barrett Temple, summarized the facts of the case stating that Simmons was involuntarily committed to Novant Health for posing a potential danger to himself or others, when he attacked two female nurses — causing one to go unconscious at the time of the attack.
One of the victims suffers from permanent nerve damage and cannot work, while the other victim in this case has passed away, though there is no evidence it was as a result of Simmons’ attack.
Chief Public Defender Jennifer Harjo said, while the two victims did nothing to provoke Simmons, she asked that the judge consider Simmons’ history of mental illness and that he was held at the hospital for a number of days prior to the outburst. Simmons had reportedly been involuntarily committed, but had been in the emergency department for three days without having been seen, and eventually began roaming the hallways.
Harjo also said the defendant has been upfront about his responsibility for the crime.
Simmons entered a negotiated plea deal, in which he was found guilty on two counts of Assault By Strangulation and two counts of Assault With A Deadly Weapon With Intent To Kill Inflicting Serious Injury.
As a condition of the plea agreement, the charges of attempted murder were dropped because that would require further evidence, i.e. proof of premeditation.
Simmons faces a minimum of 58 months and a maximum of 82 months for his first sentence, but will be credited for the 1,147 days (or about 38 months) he was held in detention. That sentence will be followed by a suspended (i.e. probationary) sentence with a minimum of five months and a maximum of 15 months. He will serve a total of four years of probation following the expiration of the prison sentence.
According to the plea agreement, Simmons must comply with mental health treatment while under the Department of Adult Corrections’ custody.
The daughter of the deceased victim told WHQR that, “we’re really just at a loss. It is what it is. Really, the door is closed.”
“[My mother] put her job as a nurse first. She loved helping families, she loved taking care of patients,” she said. “Besides that she was a Mimi to all her grandkids, she was a wife, she was a daughter, she was a sister. She’s very much missed and loved.”
The victim's daughter said it was important to get in as much family time as she can and she asks that the public remembers the impression her mother left on this community as a nurse.
