(This story was updated with a statement from Jay Hospital.)
A criminal investigation initiated in September of last year and closed April 8 failed to establish probable cause that nurses at Jay Hospital had broken the law by filming patients in compromised situations and sharing them on Snapchat.
“While there is some reason to believe that the accused parties may have exhibited patterns of behavior inappropriate for their professional environment, and possibly in violation of company policy and HIPPA, the investigation failed to establish the elements of a crime under Florida law,” a report filed by the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office states.
The Florida Association for Health Care Administration has also investigated and finalized a “statement of deficiencies” report on the Jay Hospital case. A copy of the report obtained by the Pensacola News Journal includes no recommendations for corrective action.
Three nurses, identified in the Sheriff’s Office report as Bamah Nicole Coleman, 26, Kaylin Victoria Glenn, 24, and Miranda Lynn Faulkner, 48, along with personal care technician Haley Nicole Migas, 27 were suspended and later fired by the hospital in September or early October of last year. All four are listed as suspects in the criminal investigation report.
Baptist Health Care is listed as the complainant in the case.
Santa Rosa Sheriff’s Office investigation
The Sheriff’s Office report states that on Sept. 26, 2025, Christine Gray Johnson, a vice president and human resources officer, and Cameron Townes Gore, Baptist’s in-house counsel, sat down with investigators. They had been notified a week earlier via a whistleblower that “one of Jay Hospital’s night shifts were taking photos of hospital patients while they were in an incapacitated or compromised state.”
“The whistleblower had complained of creating inappropriate content featuring patients and disseminating it to a Snapchat group,” the report said.
Pensacola Attorney Joe Zarzaur has filed a civil suit against the Baptist Hospital in Jay and Baptist Medical Center on behalf of three clients who allege hospital administrators informed them of “horrible” pictures taken of them while they were medicated or sleeping.
Zarzaur claims his clients were made aware of what happened to them when hospital representatives approached them and offered money, as much as $50,000, in exchange for signing legal releases.
In a recently posted Facebook video, Zarzaur accused hospital administrators of dragging their feet before moving to report the nurses’ behavior.
“They were trying to sweep it under the rug,” he said.
The Sheriff’s Office report states that action was taken against the four only after the whistleblower met with human resources personnel at Baptist Medical Center on Sept. 8.
It says she initially took her concerns to her shift supervisor, Leslie Crawford, on Aug. 11 of 2025.
Crawford let her know the next day the information had been forwarded to Debra Jenkins, the director of nursing and assistant director of Jay Hospital, but it ultimately resulted in little punitive action.
“She was told Debra would contact her at a later time,” the report said. “She was never asked to speak with Debra or to provide a written statement.”
On Aug. 12, the report states, Jenkins directed the nurses identified as being involved in the exploitation of patients “to cease and desist their unprofessional behavior and destroy any inappropriate content they may have created,” the report said.
The whistleblower said she was harassed and bullied by her fellow nurses after they were called out for their behavior and when she went to Baptist Healthcare with her concerns “it was her understanding the information she provided was the first Baptist had heard about any inappropriate behavior.”
In a statement to the News Journal, Jay Hospital said when they became aware of what happened they “terminated” the individuals involved and were also investigating the incidents.
“Upon learning of the allegation, we immediately conducted a preliminary investigation and notified the appropriate authorities and the patients. Following the investigation, the individuals involved were terminated,” the statement from Jay Hospital spokesperson Carmella Cook said.
“We fully cooperated with AHCA in their investigation, which is now resolved and closed,” Cook said in an email. “We are committed to protecting the privacy, safety and dignity of our patients. As this matter involves patient privacy and is pending litigation, we are unable to share further details at this time.”
During her interview with the Santa Rosa Sheriff’s Office investigator, Townes Gore, the Baptist attorney, said that a subpoena would be required in order for the Sheriff’s Office to obtain documentation generated in an internal investigation they said had been conducted in the case.
Approximately six months after the deputy investigator filed the subpoena to retrieve the Baptist Medical Center records, the agency responded to the request.
“The only information provided was dates between Feb. 1, 2025 and Sept. 19, 2025 for the targeted patients,” the report states.
The investigator in the criminal case states that the decision to close the case was based on a lack of corroboration of the criminal acts. One of the accused in the case refused to provide a statement to authorities and the other three denied the allegations levied against them, the report said.
No physical evidence or surveillance footage has thus for shown up in the case and communications between suspects about the case was limited to “only one mention of possible wrongdoing.” Zarzaur is offering a substantial reward to anyone coming forward with new information.
The ACHA report is heavily redacted and the hospital personnel interviewed by state agency officials are identified using numbers and letters.
It does include testimony from several hospital workers, though, that indicate they knew their fellow employees were taking photographs of patients and using AI to generate songs and videos for Snapchat.
“I feel like everybody had heard rumors and knew what was going on,” one staff member told state investigators.
That staff member spoke of “a few other nurses present when (he/she) saw photos taken.”
The ACHA report outlines code of conduct provisions at the hospital stating “we protect private and confidential information.” It also quotes staff direction against “posting protected health information or photographs on a website, social media page or public forum,” calling such action “strictly prohibited.”
The hospital’s misconduct policy prohibits “any willful or threatened act by a workforce member that is likely to cause significant (redacted) to a patient’s physical, mental or emotional health.”
It also states that hospital staff aware of misconduct “will report the suspicion to their immediate supervisor, who will report the incident to the risk manager.”
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Fired Jay Hospital nurses in photo scandal won’t be criminally charged
Reporting by Tom McLaughlin, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
