Nurse who helped Kentucky moms after alleged drugging, rape at Bahamas resort recounts terrifying scene: ‘In horrible shambles’
The veteran nurse practitioner who treated the two Kentucky moms who claimed two Bahamas resort staffers drugged and raped them during their vacation said “it was the worst scene” she had ever worked.
Ladonna Batty, a family nurse from Arkansas, was a passenger on the same Carnival cruise that Amber Shearer and Dongayla Dobson were on when the ship docked at the Grand Bahama island earlier this month.
“Out of my 20-odd years of practicing, it was the worst scene that I had ever had to work. It was a horrible situation for both girls,” Batty told LEX 18. “Worst thing I’ve ever seen. They were in horrible shambles.”
The moms, who wanted to spend the day at the beach and take some pictures, visited the Pirates Cove Resort when a male staffer allegedly offered them a two-for-one tropical drink deal.
The drinks, however, were reportedly stronger than expected, and both women became highly intoxicated 15 minutes after their first sips, Dobson told NewsNation’s “Cuomo.”
A second resort employee had allegedly lured the women to a secluded area and led them to where they were eventually assaulted while in their impaired state.
Batty had been in the area when another staffer found Shearer and Dobson unconscious inside a bathroom, and she went into nurse mode.
“I got my phone out and immediately started charting everything, documenting everything I’d seen,” Batty told the outlet.
The nurse practitioner knew something wasn’t right with the women, claiming the pair had a “hard time forming sentences.”
“It was a horrible scene,” Batty told Inside Edition. “I was thinking as a practitioner, ‘Let me get all this documented, let me get all these details for the girls because they’re not gonna remember some of it if they were drugged.”
Batty believes Shearer and Dobson had been assaulted and were under the influence of more than just alcohol.
“Seeing those girls in that state, it was awful,” Batty said. “Something happened to them that they will carry for the rest of their lives.”
The women claim the police did not properly handle their allegations, but were thankful Batty arrived when she did.
“Had it not been for Ladonna advocating for us, I don’t know what would have happened,” Shearer said.
Once they were back on board, the moms received the results of their toxicology tests — which showed they had a plethora of drugs in their systems, including benzodiazepines.
“Anybody should be able to go on vacation and have a drink or have a Coca-Cola and take some pictures and not get brutally assaulted,” Batty added.
The resort said the two staffers accused of the assaults have been fired for violating a zero-tolerance policy by “fraternizing with guests or behaving in a manner that is unsafe,” according to a statement obtained by WLEX.
The Royal Bahamas Police had arrested the two men in connection to the sexual assault.
While Dobson and Shearer were aboard the cruise, the US Embassy in the Bahamas released a level 2 travel advisory after rising crime on the island nation included 18 murders that occurred throughout January.
The moms were angry with the cruise line for not sharing the advisory with them before they got off the ship for the resort.
