An unhinged woman accused of fatally beating another female patient at Lincoln Hospital has been arrested after being sought by police for a month, the NYPD said Thursday.
Raquel Haughton, 44, was taken into custody and charged with manslaughter and assault for repeatedly punching her hospital roommate Cynthia Vann, 55, on Sept. 10. Vann had emergency surgery a day later, but her condition continued to deteriorate and she died Sept. 27 of her injuries, cops said.
Vann’s family has raised questions for weeks about why Haughton was not charged sooner and called for an outside probe. Haughton not only allegedly assaulted Vann, she also allegedly attacked a hospital staffer the following day. Lincoln Hospital police took a primary role in the two assaults; the NYPD did not get involved for 10 days.
Haughton was jailed Sept. 12 on an unrelated assault of the hospital staffer but made bail before the Bronx District Attorney’s office notified the NYPD on Sept. 19 about the seriousness of Vann’s condition, The News previously reported.
The city Medical Examiner concluded she died from complications of blunt trauma and classified the death as a homicide.
It was unclear Thursday where Haughton was while she was being sought for the past 30 days.
Last week, the city Department of Investigation confirmed it was conducting a review of the handling of the investigation following the report in The News. “DOI is reviewing and assessing whether there are policies and procedures that should have been followed or need to be improved,” DOI spokeswoman Diane Struzzi said Oct. 10.
Vann was admitted to Lincoln Hospital on Sept. 6 for a treatable medical condition and was alert and communicative. She and Haughton were then housed in the same hospital room on Sept. 9.
Haughton already had a string of prior arrests. She had an open assault case for punching a Lincoln Hospital staffer on July 19. Haughton had also done prison time for repeatedly punching another woman with her fists and a pair of medical tweezers in a private house in Brooklyn apartment in 2017, court records show.
She was convicted in 2019 on a charge of attempted assault and served 26 months in state prison from 2020 to 2022, the records show. She was on parole from 2022 to 2023.
Haughton allegedly punched Vann repeatedly about 3 a.m. on Sept. 10. Hospital staff moved Haughton to another room and Vann underwent the emergency surgery a day later.
The family learned she was hurt when Vann was already in emergency surgery.
Haughton allegedly slapped another hospital staffer hours after Vann went into surgery. She was arrested and charged with that assault Sept. 12, but prosecutors deferred charging her for the attack on Vann.
Haughton was taken to Rikers Island and held until Sept. 17 when a judge released her. As Vann’s condition continued to worsen, Haughton disappeared until she was caught Thursday.
On Oct. 9, Vann’s relatives gathered at her beloved community garden on Sherman Ave. near 164th St. in the Bronx and decried her death.
“This happened here in your neighborhood, in a hospital that you probably used to take care of you and your children,” said Vann’s mother Rosemary Vann, The News previously reported. “It shouldn’t have happened. So, you need to all think of that when you think about Cynthia, and think of that hospital, they let this happen to a friend of yours.”
Added Taniesha Vann, the dead woman’s daughter: “I hope the hospital takes accountability for dropping the ball with my mom. She didn’t deserve what happened to her, and the fact that it wasn’t reported and that I had to investigate myself to let the NYPD know of her condition is just insane.”
