BECKLEY, WV (LOOTPRESS) — A Raleigh County home health nurse is facing serious charges after a child under her care was hospitalized with a completely broken femur—an injury medical professionals say could only result from significant force and could not have gone unnoticed.
On Friday, May 23, 2025, Trooper G.N. Mitchell responded to a call from Ruby Memorial Hospital, where a forensic nurse reported a disturbing case of suspected child abuse. The young victim, identified as B.P., was admitted with a clean break to her femur, the strongest bone in the body.
According to hospital staff, the severity of the injury and the nature of the break raised immediate red flags. The child had been left in the care of a home health nurse on Thursday, May 22, while her grandmother—also her legal guardian—was away for about three hours.
When the grandmother returned home around 2:00 p.m., she found the nurse visibly upset, claiming she had discovered her husband was cheating. The nurse abruptly left. It wasn’t until the grandmother went to move the child that she noticed something was terribly wrong. The child’s leg “flopped” unnaturally, and she screamed in pain. Emergency services were called, and B.P. was transported to Princeton Community Hospital, then airlifted to Ruby Memorial for emergency surgery.
Doctors told Trooper Mitchell the type of break the child suffered would have caused immediate and extreme pain, and that there was no way the nurse could have missed it. Despite this, the nurse denied hearing any screams or signs of injury, claiming she followed her usual care routine, including limb exercises.
During two separate interviews with state police, the nurse, Alisha Dawn Dowdy, repeatedly denied noticing anything unusual—claims doctors say are impossible given the nature of the injury. She also gave inconsistent statements, raising concerns about possible sedation of the child without documentation.
The child’s grandmother noted that the nurse had moved the child to a different bed two hours earlier than normal, and without her prescribed nighttime medication, which she typically needs to sleep—yet the child appeared to be unconscious or overly sedated.
After a thorough investigation, the home health nurse, Alisha Dawn Dowdy, was charged with Child Abuse Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury under West Virginia Code 61-8D-3(b).
*This story has been updated, and the age has been removed due to the criminal complaint marking out the age of the victim. Lootpress was told by officials it was a 3-year-old, but due to a discrepancy, we are removing the age.*
