A school therapist in North Carolina is facing many charges, including an attempted murder charge, after she allegedly spiked her husband’s energy drink several times in hopes of poisoning him.
Cheryl Harris Gates was arrested on October 10 and is facing an attempted murder charge, as well as charges of stalking, damage to property and contaminating food or drink to render one mentally incapacitated or physically helpless, according to an arrest warrant viewed by People.
Gates,42, allegedly spiked her husband’s Celsius energy drink with “prescription medications with the intention of causing a black out condition or incapacitation,” per the warrant.
According to an officer affidavit viewed by the outlet, Gates allegedly used ChatGPT between the dates of July 8 and September 29 to “investigate lethal and incapacitating prescription drug combinations and the effects of oleander, ricin, and fox glove poisoning.”
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The victim allegedly provided “evidence of his incapacitation and a foreign controlled substance in his beverage” during two separate instances on July 12 and August 18, per the affidavit.
Syringes, a capsule filling kit, medical droppers, scales and medications were found in Gates’ workspace at her home and were later collected as evidence, according to authorities.
Additionally, the affidavit noted that Gates and her husband were not living together at the time of the alleged poisonings. It’s not clear what their relationship status was at the time of the attempted poisonings.
Gates was employed with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools as an occupational therapist at the time of her alleged crimes. Following her arrest, parents of the students she worked with expressed their concerns about the situation.
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“It’s definitely surprising that somebody in that capacity that is there to help others would do something, that type of crime, especially,” parent Quemella Holland told WSOC-TV on October 10.
Fellow parent Laurie Leebrick added, “She never should have been around kids at all. They should have done better background checks.”
