A 28-year-old patient is facing a felony charge after Nashville police say he yanked a nurse into a headlock and repeatedly hit them with a cell phone inside a psychiatric unit at TriStar Centennial's Parthenon Pavilion. According to a police affidavit, the attack left the nurse with a concussion and whiplash, and the man is now charged with aggravated assault.
Police: Patient Put Nurse In Headlock, Hit Them 13 Times
An arrest affidavit reviewed by WSMV says officers were called to the TriStar Centennial Parthenon Pavilion after reports of an assault. The document identifies the suspect as Jaichai D. Hamilton and notes that he had been involuntarily admitted to the unit and tried to leave before two nurses intercepted him. Police say Hamilton wrapped his arm around one nurse's head and neck, then struck that nurse 13 times in the head with a cellphone. The affidavit states the nurse suffered a concussion and whiplash, and that Hamilton is being held on a $15,000 bond.
Inside The Parthenon Pavilion
The Parthenon Pavilion is the inpatient psychiatric unit at TriStar Centennial Medical Center. TriStar lists the pavilion at 2401 Parman Pl on the Centennial campus. The unit provides inpatient mental health services, including individual and group therapies, and operates as part of the larger TriStar Centennial campus that offers emergency and specialty care. TriStar's facility information describes the pavilion as a long-standing behavioral health program serving patients in the Nashville area.
Why Nurses Say Violence Is Rising
Healthcare workers in Tennessee and across the country say assaults on staff are all too common, especially in psychiatric and emergency departments, and that many incidents never make it into official reports. A local investigation last year highlighted several incidents at TriStar facilities and raised flags about underreporting and prosecution; that coverage is available via a report on Yahoo, originally produced by WKRN. Nationally, Press Ganey's National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators found that more than two nursing personnel were assaulted every hour in the second quarter of 2022. Federal resources such as ASPR TRACIE summarize trends and outline strategies hospitals are using to try to curb workplace violence.
Legal Implications
Tennessee law defines aggravated assault to include assaults that result in serious bodily injury, involve the use or display of a deadly weapon, or include strangulation. Those offenses are charged as felonies under Tenn. Code § 39-13-102. Whether prosecutors seek any enhanced penalties in this case will depend on how the evidence is presented. For now, the arrest affidavit is the basis for the aggravated assault charge, and the investigation remains active.
Metro Nashville police are handling the case, and upcoming court filings will show the next steps as prosecutors move forward. This story will be updated if additional charges are filed or if the hospital or police release new statements.
