Newly obtained body camera video reveals the hours before Stephen Eric Scantlebury nearly beat a hospital nurse to death last month, exposing his paranoia, his mother’s desperate plea for help, and his refusal to get treatment.
The video shows Palm Beach County Sheriff’s deputies offering Scantlebury a chance to go to a mental health facility, but he laughed at the suggestion. His mother, Gloria Scantlebury, begged for intervention, fearing he would hurt himself or others.
Deputy: “Hey sir, what’s up? Were you trying to get my attention?”
Scantlebury: “Yes.”
Scantlebury first flagged down a sheriff’s deputy outside a Dunkin’ Donuts, saying he was “worried about stuff going on.” But he refused to engage with the first officer. Minutes later, a second deputy arrived and tried to get him help.
Deputy: “You guys have a family dispute or something?”
Scantlebury: “Yeah.”
Deputy: “You want to go talk to somebody about it?”
Scantlebury seemed uncertain. He told the deputy, “I need somebody I can trust.”
As the deputy got him a coffee, his mother arrived, visibly distressed.
Deputy: “It sounds like he is very paranoid or something.”
Gloria Scantlebury: “He is! And I don’t know where this is coming from. His wife doesn’t know where it is coming from. He was in a car accident. I don’t want it to go anywhere.”
Gloria Scantlebury told deputies her son had been in a car crash on January 7th and had become increasingly paranoid ever since. Deputies asked if he suffered a head injury, and she admitted she wasn’t sure—but now believed it was possible.
Scantlebury described the crash himself:
Scantlebury: “I got out of the car NASCAR-style—I frigging got out, and I went to see if the lady was alive. The lady’s a whack job.”
Deputy: “Who? Your mother?”
Scantlebury: “Probably.”
His mother insisted he didn’t use drugs or even take pain medication but made it clear she was terrified about his mental state.
Gloria Scantlebury: “There’s never been anything, but at this point, I don’t want him to hurt himself or anybody else.”
The deputy offered to take him to a facility.
Deputy: “You want to go to JFK North and talk to a mental health professional?”
Scantlebury: “Ha! No.”
Instead, deputies gave his number to South County Mental Health counselors and said they would call him. His mother, growing more desperate, wished there was another way to intervene.
Gloria Scantlebury: “I just wish he would run and you could detain him.”
But that didn’t happen.
Missed Opportunities
Later that day, Scantlebury walked to Palms West Hospital, where he was admitted, complaining of chest pains.
But after more erratic behavior, including jumping off a CAT scan machine and running down the hall, he was admitted under the Baker Act. But instead of being placed in a secured psychiatric facility, he was left in an unsecured hospital room without a guard.
That’s where he attacked 67-year-old nurse Leela Lal, brutally beating her. The attack raises serious questions about whether this horrifying situation could have been prevented.
Lal remains in intensive care following multiple surgeries on her face and skull Sunday.
Her daughter, Dr. Cindy Joseph, told WPBF 25 News Investigative Reporter Terri Parker her mother is in severe pain and facing six to eight weeks post-op recovery.
Scantlebury is in the Palm Beach County jail on second-degree attempted murder charges; his attorneys are seeking psychiatric evaluations.
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