Search records describe leftover medication, disputed dosing practices and an allegedly improper response when a 4-year-old patient stopped breathing normally.
FORT WORTH, Texas — An investigation into a 4-year-old girl’s death at a Fort Worth dental office is focusing on how sedatives were stored and administered and whether staff recognized and properly responded to the child’s medical distress.
Dentist Chrishelle Hemphill was arrested July 15 and charged with injury to a child causing serious bodily injury in connection with the April 1 death of Aithana Arriaga at Cuddle Kids Dental Care. The Texas State Board of Dental Examiners temporarily suspended Hemphill’s license the same day. She has been released on a $10,000 bond, and the allegations remain unproven.
The arrest affidavit and the dental board’s suspension order describe a series of alleged failures involving medication dosing, patient monitoring and emergency care. Investigators also reported finding partially used syringes during a search of the office, raising separate concerns about how controlled medications were handled between procedures.
Detectives said syringes containing different amounts of leftover medication were found together in a box. Hemphill told investigators that unused medication from a dose could be saved for later use, according to reports based on the search and arrest records. A pediatric dentist who reviewed the described practice said unused medication should be discarded through a documented process witnessed by another person.
Authorities allege Aithana was given a liquid containing meperidine, also known as Demerol, before undergoing a frenectomy on her tongue. She also received other sedating drugs and nitrous oxide, according to the affidavit. The dental board’s order said chloral hydrate, a discontinued sedative without a specific reversal agent, was among the medications administered.
Laboratory testing found a meperidine concentration that a medical examiner described as toxic even for an adult, the affidavit states. Investigators allege the combination of medications placed the child at serious risk of respiratory depression, a condition in which breathing becomes dangerously slow or ineffective.
The records say Aithana did not awaken normally after the procedure. Investigators allege signs of respiratory distress were not recognized soon enough and that the child was not continuously monitored as required. When her condition became clear, Hemphill and another dentist began emergency efforts before paramedics arrived.
The affidavit says flumazenil was detected in Aithana’s system. Flumazenil reverses the effects of certain sedatives but does not reverse opioids such as meperidine. Investigators said naloxone, commonly known by the brand name Narcan, was the medication that should have been used to counter an opioid overdose.
Investigators also questioned the use of an automated external defibrillator to assess the child even though she reportedly still had a pulse. A temporary dentist assisted with CPR, and emergency crews transported Aithana to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
A search of the practice and the resulting suspension provided regulators with information that was not publicly available during the first months of the investigation. The office continued seeing patients for roughly 15 weeks after Aithana’s death and closed around the time of Hemphill’s arrest.
The state dental board has not publicly answered broader questions about how often dental offices are inspected, how employees can report unsafe medication practices or what immediate review follows the death of a child during a procedure. The board’s executive director declined to discuss questions related to the continuing case.
Hemphill’s attorney has said the government will be held to its burden of proof as the allegations are tested in court. The dental office remained closed as of July 29, and no date for further criminal or regulatory proceedings had been publicly confirmed.
Author note: Last updated July 30, 2026.