A St. Louis County woman will spend the next 20 years in prison after pleading guilty in a brutal stabbing that happened inside a local hospital.
Jimissa Rivers pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree assault in connection to the July 2022 incident at SSM Health DePaul Hospital. She was sentenced to 20 years, with both sentences running at the same time, and will receive credit for time already served.
According to investigators, Nurse Tammy Scott was working in the triage unit when Rivers suddenly approached her with a knife. Scott later described looking up and seeing Rivers standing over her just moments before the attack.
Scott suffered life-threatening injuries, including a severed artery. She had to apply pressure to her own wound and walk herself to get help. She later said if she had not already been inside the hospital, she likely would not have survived.
Authorities say Scott’s carotid artery and right facial nerve were severed during the attack. An EMT, Kayla McMahan, was also stabbed. Both women survived.
Police say Rivers walked into the triage area and carried out the attack. The case later led to the creation of a healthcare violence unit in St. Louis County, aimed at protecting medical workers and making sure incidents like this are taken seriously. We want to say thank you to these courageous FRONT LINE WORKERS!
Scott and McMahan have both said the situation should have never happened and that staff had been asking for more security inside the hospital prior to the incident.
