Pay attention to the woman walking into the fourth floor supply closet at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
Her name is Celestina Batista.
Everyone calls her Tina.
She’s 31 years old, a cardiac ICU nurse from Manila who immigrated 3 years ago.
It’s Thursday, October 12th, 2023 at 6:16 p.
m.
She’s holding her phone, staring at an email that arrived 3 hours ago.
Subject line: Gene direct testing confidential paternity results.
She opened it at 300 p.
m.
in the hospital cafeteria.
The father isn’t who she thought.
She’s 3 months pregnant.
She’s been sleeping with two men, both married cardiologists, both her supervisors.
She thought she knew which one was the father.
The test proved her wrong.
Watch as she reaches for the supply closet door handle.
Someone is already inside waiting in the dark.
But it’s not Dr.
Garrett Ashford, the 42-year-old married cardiologist she’s been sleeping with since April.
And it’s not Dr.
Damen Cross, the 38-year-old married cardiologist she’s been sleeping with since May.
It’s someone who has even more to lose if Tina’s secret comes out.
Someone who’s been planning this moment for days.
Within 6 minutes, Celestina Batista would be dead, strangled while unconscious.
Within 8 minutes, three people would agree to cover it up.
Within 48 hours, investigators would arrest all three.
This was not a crime of passion.
This was murder by committee.
Dr.
Garrett Ashford had built his reputation over 15 years.
He was one of Chicago’s most prominent cardiologists.
Featured in Chicago magazine’s top doctors issue for three consecutive years.
He performed cutting edge cardiac procedures that other surgeons couldn’t.
Published research in the journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Taught twice a week at Northwestern’s medical school.
Patients flew from across the country to have him perform their surgeries.
His success rate was 97.
3%.
Higher than the national average by 12 percentage points.
He lived in a $3.
4 million home in Lincoln Park, a historic neighborhood of Treeline Streets and Victorian mansions.
His wife, Sloan Ashford, was a managing partner at Whitmore and Cats, one of Chicago’s most powerful corporate law firms.
She specialized in mergers and acquisitions, build $850 an hour, regularly appeared on lists of the city’s most influential attorneys.
They had two children, Evelyn, 12, a straight A student at Latin School of Chicago, and Noah, nine, who played travel soccer and took piano lessons.
On the surface, the Ashfords were Chicago royalty, charity gallas, medical conferences, school fundraisers, front row seats at the Lyric Opera, season tickets to the Bulls.
Their Christmas card each year showed the perfect family, Garrett and Sloan in coordinated outfits, Evelyn and Noah smiling, their golden retriever Max sitting obediently in front.
The 2022 card had been sent to 400 people, but Garrett had been having affairs for 7 years.
It started in 2016 with a pharmaceutical sales representative who called on his office weekly.
Then a nurse in the cardiac cath lab in 2018, a patients daughter in 2019, a resident doing her cardiology rotation in 2020.
A medical device consultant in 2021.
A hospital administrator in 2022.
Six women over seven years.
Garrett was careful.
Hotels paid for in cash.
burner phones, deleted text messages.
He believed he’d never get caught.
He was wrong.
Celestina Batista arrived at Northwestern Memorial Hospital on January 9th, 2023.
She’d been hired for the cardiac ICU, one of the most demanding units in the hospital.
Patients recovering from open heart surgery, valve replacements, coronary bypass grafts.
The work required exceptional skill, quick thinking, and the ability to remain calm during codes when patients hearts stopped beating.
Tina had dreamed of being a nurse since she was 12 years old.
Growing up in Quesan City, a densely populated area of Metro Manila, her family was poor.
Her father had died when she was 8, leaving her mother, Peara, to raise four children alone.
Pa worked as a housekeeper in the homes of wealthy Filipino families, cleaning and cooking for 300 pesos a day, approximately $6.
Tina was the oldest child.
She helped raise her three younger siblings.
Marisel, 26, now a teacher in Manila.
Carlos, 23, working construction, and Anna, 19, still in school.
Tina had been brilliant in school despite poverty.
She’d earned a scholarship to the University of Sto.
Tomtomas College of Nursing, one of the Philippines top programs.
She graduated in 2014 with honors, worked at Philippine General Hospital for 3 years, then applied for nursing positions in the United States, the American dream, better pay, better opportunities, the ability to send money home to support her family.
In 2020, Tina received a visa offer from Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
She’d passed the NCLE XRN exam on her first attempt, scored in the 95th percentile, impressed the hospital’s recruiting team with her clinical knowledge and compassionate bedside manner.
She arrived in Chicago on February 3rd, 2020, 1 month before CO 19 shut down the world.
For three years, she worked through the pandemic, treating the sickest cardiac patients, many of whom also had COVID.
She watched colleagues get sick.
She watched patients die.
She worked 60-hour weeks, sometimes 80.
She sent 60% of her paycheck home to Manila every month.
Her mother used it to pay for Anna’s school fees, to fix the roof on their house, to buy medicine when Carlos broke his leg.
Tina lived modestly.
She shared a two-bedroom apartment in Uptown with another Filipino nurse, Amara Aonquo, who worked in pediatric ICU.
Rent was $1,400 a month split between them.
Tina’s room had a bed, a small desk, a crucifix on the wall.
She attended mass every Sunday at St.
Gertude Catholic Church.
She video called her mother every Saturday.
Her Instagram account showed photos of her family, her work scrubs, occasional outings with other Filipino nurses to restaurants in Chinatown.
She was lonely, 3 years in America, thousands of miles from home, working brutal hours, living for a future that always seemed just out of reach.
She wanted to save enough money to bring her mother to Chicago, to buy a small house, to stop living paycheck to paycheck.
But at $68,000 a year after taxes and sending money home, she saved almost nothing.
In April 2023, Tina met Dr.
Garrett Ashford during a complex aortic valve replacement surgery.
The patient was a 67year-old man with severe stenosis, his heart barely pumping enough blood to keep him alive.
The surgery took 7 hours.
Tina was the scrub nurse, assisting Garrett with instruments, anticipating his needs, staying focused despite exhaustion.
After the surgery, Garrett approached her in the hallway.
You were exceptional in there.
Best scrub nurse I’ve worked with in years.
Tina thanked him, said she was just doing her job.
Garrett asked if she’d be interested in observing more of his surgeries, learning advanced cardiac procedures.
Tina said yes immediately.
The opportunity to learn from one of the best cardiologists in Chicago was invaluable.
Two weeks later, Garrett invited Tina to a medical conference in Boston, April 21st through 23rd.
He said Northwestern was sending a team that she’d been recommended by the ICU director as someone with high potential.
The hospital would pay for her flight and hotel.
Tina was thrilled.
She’d never been to Boston.
The conference was at the Hines Convention Center.
Tina attended lectures on advanced cardiac care, new medications, innovative surgical techniques.
On the second night, April 22nd, Garrett invited her to dinner.
He said he wanted to discuss her career trajectory, opportunities for advancement, potential research projects she could participate in.
They ate at Legal Seafoods in the Seapport District.
Garrett ordered wine.
Tina rarely drank, but accepted a glass.
Garrett was charming, attentive, asking about her family, her background, her dreams.
He told her she had extraordinary potential, that he could mentor her, help her move beyond bedside nursing into research or education.
Tina was flattered.
No one at Northwestern had ever shown this kind of interest in her career.
After dinner, Garrett suggested a walk along the harbor.
The April night was cold but clear.
They walked for 30 minutes talking, laughing.
When they returned to the hotel, Garrett asked if she wanted a night cap in the hotel bar.
Tina hesitated, then agreed.
One drink turned into two.
Two turned into Garrett suggesting they continue the conversation in his room where they could talk privately about the research opportunities he had in mind.
Tina knew this was a line being crossed.
But Garrett was a senior physician, married, respected.
She trusted he meant what he said about her career.
In his room, Garrett poured more wine.
He sat close to her on the couch.
He touched her hand.
Tina pulled back slightly.
Garrett apologized, said he misread the situation, but then he told her something she’d needed to hear for 3 years.
You’re extraordinary, beautiful, brilliant, kind.
Any man would be lucky to be with you.
Tina had been lonely for so long.
Garrett was handsome, successful, interested in her, not just professionally, but personally.
When he kissed her, she didn’t stop him.
They slept together that night.
Tina told herself it was a mistake, that it wouldn’t happen again.
But it did.
For 6 months, Tina and Garrett conducted an affair.
Late night shifts when Sloan thought he was in surgery.
Hotel rooms on his lunch breaks paid for in cash.
text messages sent from burner phones, deleted immediately after reading.
Garrett told Tina his marriage was over in all but name that he and Sloan slept in separate bedrooms, stayed together only for the children.
He said he’d leave Sloan eventually when the time was right.
Tina believed him.
She’d fallen in love with him.
She imagined a future.
Garrett divorced, marrying her, bringing her mother to Chicago, starting a family.
It was a fantasy, but it sustained her through the guilt of sleeping with a married man.
What Tina didn’t know was that Sloan Ashford had known about Garrett’s affairs for 3 years.
In September 2020, Sloan had noticed hotel charges on their shared credit card.
When confronted, Garrett claimed they were for colleagues visiting from out of town that he’d offered to help with accommodations.
Sloan didn’t believe him.
She hired a private investigator, Raymond Voss, a former Chicago PD detective who now ran a discrete investigation firm in River North.
Voss followed Garrett for 3 months.
He documented everything.
Six different women, hotel visits, restaurants, prolonged absences from work.
Voss provided Sloan with photos, credit card receipts, license plate numbers.
The evidence was irrefutable.
Garrett was a serial cheater.
Sloan’s reaction surprised even herself.
She wasn’t devastated.
She wasn’t heartbroken.
She was calculating.
Sloan had built her legal career on strategy, on patience, on waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
She decided not to confront Garrett.
Instead, she’d continue gathering evidence, wait for the optimal time to file for divorce, ensure she’d get full custody of Evelyn and Noah.
maximum financial settlement and protect her partnership at Whitmore and Cats from any scandal.
For three years, Sloan played the role of devoted wife while secretly compiling a file of Garrett’s infidelities.
She kept everything in a safety deposit box at Chase Bank on Michigan Avenue, photographs, receipts, private investigator reports.
She consulted with divorce attorneys quietly asking hypothetical questions about asset division, custody arrangements, alimony calculations.
She was preparing for war.
In May 2023, Dr.
Damen Cross met Tina during a hospital code.
A patient in cardiac ICU had gone into ventricular fibrillation, his heart rhythm chaotic and deadly.
Tina was the first responder, already performing CPR.
When Damian arrived, he took over chest compressions while Tina prepared the defibrillator.
They worked together seamlessly.
The patient survived.
Afterward, Damen thanked Tina for her quick thinking.
She’d saved the patients life.
Tina said she was just doing her job.
Damian introduced himself properly.
Said he’d seen her around the unit, heard from other doctors that she was one of the best nurses they had.
Tina blushed, thanked him.
Damian Cross was different from Garrett.
He was quieter, more thoughtful, genuinely kind.
He was married to Elena Cross, a trauma surgeon at Northwestern.
They had three young children.
Lucas, seven, Emma, five, and Sophie, three.
Damian loved his family.
His office was filled with photos.
His kids at the beach, Elena in her wedding dress, family ski trips to Colorado.
But Damian was also lonely in his marriage.
Elena worked 80our weeks in the trauma department.
Their schedules rarely aligned.
They hadn’t had a real conversation in months.
Hadn’t had sex in over a year.
Damian wasn’t looking for an affair.
But when Tina smiled at him in the break room 2 weeks after the code, when they started having coffee together on their breaks, when she laughed at his jokes and asked about his children, he felt something he hadn’t felt in years.
Scene.
The affair began almost accidentally.
Late May, after a particularly brutal shift where they’d lost two patients, Damen and Tina found themselves alone in the physician’s lounge at 2:00 a.
m.
Tina was crying.
She’d performed CPR on one of the patients for 40 minutes, trying desperately to bring him back.
Damen held her, comforted her.
The hug turned into a kiss.
They slept together on the couch in the lounge.
Damian was consumed with guilt.
He went home that morning, looked at Elena sleeping, looked at his children’s photos, hated himself.
He told himself it was a one-time mistake, that it would never happen again.
But it did.
He couldn’t stay away from Tina.
She made him feel alive.
For 4 months, Tina was sleeping with two men, Garrett and Damian.
Neither knew about the other.
Tina told herself she was trying to figure out which relationship was real, which man truly cared about her.
But the truth was simpler and more complicated.
She was in love with Garrett and emotionally connected to Damian, and she didn’t know how to choose between them.
In August 2023, Raymond Voss was following Garrett as usual.
He photographed Garrett entering the Hilton Garden Inn on East Grand Avenue at 12:30 p.
m.
on a Tuesday.
30 minutes later, Vos photographed Tina Batista entering the same hotel.
They emerged together at 2:15 p.
m.
Garrett’s latest affair confirmed, but Voss kept watching Tina.
He followed her from the hospital on August 18th.
She met a man at a coffee shop in Wicker Park.
Voss photographed them.
Intimate conversation, holding hands across the table, a kiss before parting.
Voss ran the man’s license plate.
The car was registered to Dr.
Damen Cross, another cardiologist at Northwestern.
Voss reported back to Sloan on August 21st.
Your husband’s mistress is also sleeping with his best friend.
Sloan studied the photographs Voss provided.
Tina with Garrett at the hotel.
Tina with Damian at the coffee shop.
Tina entering Damen’s car on three separate occasions.
Sloan’s mind worked quickly.
This wasn’t just an affair.
This was leverage.
If Garrett’s mistress was also sleeping with Damian, both doctors were vulnerable.
Both had everything to lose.
Sloan could use this information not just to destroy Garrett in a divorce, but to protect herself, to ensure no one would question her version of events.
When the marriage ended, Sloan told Voss to continue surveillance.
She wanted every detail where they met, how often, any communication she could access.
Voss expanded his operation.
He tracked Tina’s movements, her phone usage, her internet searches.
By late September, Voss had compiled a comprehensive file on Tina Batista, her immigration status, her visa sponsored by Northwestern, her family in Manila, her financial situation.
Sloan researched Tina’s H1B visa.
It was tied to her employment at Northwestern.
If Tina lost her job, her visa would be revoked.
She’d have 60 days to find new sponsorship or leave the country.
Sloan realized she held Tina’s entire future in her hands.
Act two.
Tina missed her period in early July 2023.
First, she didn’t think much of it.
Stress could delay menstruation and working 60-hour weeks in cardiac ICU was stressful.
But by mid July, when her period still hadn’t arrived, Tina bought a pregnancy test at Walgreens on her way home from a shift.
She took the test in the bathroom of her apartment at 6:00 a.
m.
on July 18th, her hands shaking as she waited for the result.
Two pink lines, positive.
Tina stared at the test for 5 minutes, unable to process what it meant.
She was pregnant.
She was 31 years old, unmarried, sleeping with two married men and pregnant.
The panic set in immediately.
Who was the father? She’d been with Garrett in late April, early May.
She’d been with Damian starting in late May.
The conception window could be either man.
She had no way of knowing without a paternity test.
Tina told no one at first.
She went to work, performed her duties, smiled at patients, and tried to pretend everything was normal.
But inside, she was unraveling.
She couldn’t eat.
She couldn’t sleep.
She’d lie awake at night calculating timelines, trying to remember dates, trying to convince herself she knew which man was the father.
By August, Tina was 8 weeks pregnant.
Morning sickness began.
She’d vomit before shifts during breaks in patient bathrooms when no one was watching.
Her roommate Amara noticed.
You look terrible.
Are you sick? Tina said she had a stomach bug that it would pass.
On September 3rd, Tina broke down.
She told Amara everything.
Both affairs, the pregnancy, her uncertainty about paternity.
Amara was shocked.
Tina, these are married men, doctors, your supervisors.
This could destroy your career.
Tina knew.
She’d been thinking about nothing else for weeks.
Amara asked what Tina planned to do.
Tina said she didn’t know.
Abortion crossed her mind, but her Catholic faith made it unthinkable.
She’d been raised to believe life began at conception, that abortion was a mortal sin.
She couldn’t do it even in these circumstances.
Amara urged Tina to tell both men immediately.
They have a right to know, and you need to know who the father is before you make any decisions.
Tina agreed in theory, but couldn’t imagine actually having those conversations.
How do you tell two married men you might be carrying their child? By late September, Tina was 12 weeks pregnant.
She could no longer hide the symptoms.
She’d lost weight from constant nausea.
Dark circles shadowed her eyes from sleepless nights.
Her scrubs hung looser on her frame.
Colleagues asked if she was okay.
She said she was fine, just tired.
On September 28th, Tina researched early paternity testing.
She learned that non-invasive prenatal paternity testing was possible as early as 9 weeks using a blood sample from the mother and DNA samples from potential fathers.
The test analyzed fetal DNA present in the mother’s bloodstream, comparing it to the alleged Father’s DNA.
Accuracy 99.
9%.
Cost $1,200.
Tina had $1,400 in her checking account.
The test would wipe out nearly all her savings, but she needed to know.
She couldn’t tell both men about the pregnancy without knowing which one was actually the father.
The uncertainty was destroying her.
On October 2nd, Tina executed her plan.
She went to Garrett’s office during his lunch break when he typically ate alone while reviewing patient charts.
She knocked, entered, said she needed to discuss a patient case.
While Garrett explained something on his computer, Tina picked up his coffee mug from the desk, pretended to examine it, then set it back down.
She touched the rim where his lips had been.
Later, in the supply room, she swabbed the mug with a sterile cotton swab, sealed it in a plastic bag.
On October 3rd, she did the same with Damian.
He’d left a water bottle in the breakroom.
Tina waited until he left, grabbed the bottle, swabbed the mouth opening, sealed the evidence.
On October 4th, Tina went to gene direct testing in Skoi, a suburb north of Chicago.
She provided a blood sample and the two DNA swabs labeled sample A and sample B.
The technician said results would be ready in 7 to 10 business days, delivered via encrypted email.
Tina paid $1,195 in cash.
her hands trembling as she counted out the bills.
For the next week, Tina existed in a state of suspended terror.
She checked her email compulsively.
Every ping from her phone made her heart race.
She couldn’t focus at work.
She made minor mistakes.
Forgetting to document medication administration, missing a subtle change in a patient’s rhythm on the cardiac monitor.
Her supervisor pulled her aside on October 9th.
Tina, you’re one of our best nurses, but lately you seem distracted.
Is everything okay at home? Tina lied.
She said her mother was sick, that she was worried about her family in Manila.
The supervisor was sympathetic, offered to reduce her hours if she needed time.
Tina said no, she needed to work.
Meanwhile, Raymond Voss had been monitoring Tina’s online activity through the hospital’s Wi-Fi network.
On October 1st, he noticed searches for early paternity testing Chicago non-invasive prenatal paternity test and how soon can you determine paternity.
He screenshot everything, sent it to Sloan.
On October 5th, Vos followed Tina to gene direct testing in Skoi.
He photographed her entering the facility, staying for 35 minutes.
Leaving, he called Sloan immediately.
Your husband’s mistress just went to a paternity testing facility.
She’s pregnant and she doesn’t know which man is the father.
Sloan’s reaction was cold calculation.
This changed everything.
A pregnancy meant scandal, media attention, hospital investigations.
If Garrett was the father, Sloan could use it to destroy him completely in divorce court.
Infidelity with a subordinate employee, getting her pregnant, violating hospital ethics policies.
If Damian was the father, Sloan could expose both affairs, position herself as the wronged wife of two doctors sex scandal, leverage Elena Cross’s reputation as a trauma surgeon to garner sympathy.
Either way, Sloan realized she held all the cards.
She just needed to wait for the paternity results, then make her move.
On October 7th, Garrett noticed Tina looked unwell.
He cornered her in the supply room.
You look terrible, pale, tired.
Are you sick? Tina wanted to tell him about the pregnancy, but stopped herself.
She didn’t know yet if he was the father.
She said she just had a stomach bug, that it would pass.
Garrett seemed concerned, but didn’t press further.
Over the next few days, Garrett became paranoid.
Tina was avoiding him, not responding to his texts as quickly, seemed distant.
He worried she was losing interest, maybe seeing someone else.
The thought enraged him.
He texted her constantly, showed up at her apartment unannounced twice.
Tina felt smothered, pressured, but couldn’t explain the real reason for her distance.
She was waiting to find out if he was the father of her child.
Damen, meanwhile, had decided to end the affair.
On October 8th, he sat Elena down at home after their children were in bed.
He didn’t confess the affair, but he told her he felt disconnected from her, from their marriage, from their family.
Elena was surprised, but receptive.
She admitted she’d been too focused on work, that they needed to prioritize their relationship.
They agreed to start date nights, couple’s therapy, reconnecting.
Damen felt a surge of hope.
Maybe he could fix his marriage.
Maybe he could end things with Tina before anyone got hurt.
On October 9th, he met Tina in the hospital parking garage after their shift.
He told her they needed to stop seeing each other, that he loved his wife, that their affair was a mistake.
Tina broke down, crying.
You can’t leave me now.
Not now.
Damian was confused.
Why? What’s wrong? Tina almost told him about the pregnancy, but stopped herself.
She didn’t know yet if he was the father.
She just said, “I need you.
Please don’t do this.
Damian felt terrible but held firm.
This has to end.
Tina, I’m sorry.
I love my wife.
Tina’s tears turned to anger.
You’ll regret this.
I promise you’ll regret leaving me.
Damian took it as emotional manipulation, an attempt to make him feel guilty.
He didn’t understand it was a warning.
He walked away, got in his car, drove home to Elena and their children.
He told himself he’d done the right thing.
He had no idea what was coming.
On October 11th, Tina couldn’t wait any longer.
The paternity results were supposed to arrive within 7 to 10 business days.
It had been 7 days.
She couldn’t make any decisions without knowing, but she also couldn’t keep the pregnancy secret much longer.
She was starting to show.
Her scrubs were getting tight around her abdomen.
At 5:45 p.
m.
on October 11th, Tina decided to tell both men about the pregnancy.
Even without knowing paternity, she had to.
They deserved to know.
And she needed their help, their support, their acknowledgement that this situation existed.
She went to Garrett’s office first.
He was finishing paperwork, preparing to go home.
Tina closed the door behind her.
We need to talk.
Garrett looked up, saw her serious expression.
What’s wrong? Tina took a breath.
I’m pregnant.
The color drained from Garrett’s face.
What? Tina repeated it.
I’m 3 months pregnant.
Garrett stood up, walked to the window, stared out at the Chicago skyline.
Are you sure it’s mine? The question stung.
Yes, Tina lied because she didn’t know for certain but needed to believe.
Garrett turned to face her.
You need to take care of this.
I’ll pay for it, but this cannot get out.
Tina felt like she’d been slapped.
Take care of this.
You mean kill our baby? Garrett’s voice was cold.
Don’t be dramatic.
It’s a medical procedure.
I’ll give you money, but you cannot have this baby.
Do you understand? If this gets out, my career is over.
My marriage is over.
Everything I’ve built is destroyed.
Tina stared at him, seeing him clearly for the first time.
He didn’t love her.
He’d never loved her.
She’d been a convenience, a distraction.
Nothing more.
I’m keeping the baby, Tina said quietly.
You need to leave Sloan and be a father.
Garrett laughed.
A harsh sound.
That’s not happening.
Figure it out or I’ll make sure you’re fired and deported.
Hospital policy prohibits relationships between supervisors and subordinate staff.
I’ll report you for sexual harassment.
say you pursued me, that I rejected you, you’ll lose your visa, your job, everything.
Do you understand? Tina left his office in tears.
She’d never felt more alone.
She went straight to Damian’s office on the sixth floor.
It was 7:25 p.
m.
Damian was still there reviewing patient labs.
Tina knocked, entered without waiting for permission.
Damian looked up, surprised.
Tina, I told you we can’t.
She cut him off.
I’m pregnant.
It’s yours.
Damian felt the world tilt.
What? How do you know it’s mine? Tina lied again.
Because I haven’t been with anyone else.
Damian stood.
Paced the small office.
Tina, I can’t.
Elena, my kids.
This will destroy everything.
Tina was crying now.
Then you should have thought about that before sleeping with me.
Damian felt trapped.
Cornered.
What do you want from me? I want you to leave Elena and be a father to our child.
Damian shook his head.
I can’t do that.
I love my wife.
I love my children.
This was a mistake.
A terrible mistake.
Tina’s voice turned hard.
You have 48 hours.
Leave Elena or I tell her myself.
I tell hospital administration.
I make sure everyone knows.
Damen begged.
Please, Tina.
There has to be another way.
Tina gave him her ultimatum.
Friday, October 13th, 6:00 p.
m.
That’s your deadline.
She left Damen’s office, went to the parking garage, sat in her car, and sobbed for 20 minutes.
Both men had rejected her.
Both had chosen their reputations, their families, their careers over her and the baby.
She felt used, discarded, worthless.
At 11:30 p.
m.
on October 11th, Garrett arrived home to his Lincoln Park house.
Sloan was still awake, working on her laptop in the study.
Garrett poured himself a scotch, drank it in one gulp, poured another.
Sloan noticed.
Rough day.
Garrett sat down heavily.
We need to talk.
Something’s happened.
He told her everything.
the affair with Tina, the pregnancy, Tina’s demand that he leave Sloan, Tina’s threat to expose everything if he didn’t comply.
He expected Sloan to rage, to cry, to throw things.
Instead, she closed her laptop and looked at him with eerie calm.
“Is the baby yours?” Garrett said he assumed so.
Sloan asked detailed questions.
“How far along is she? What exactly did she say? When is her deadline?” Garrett answered everything, confused by Sloan’s composure.
Finally, Sloan said, “Let me think about this.
We’ll discuss it tomorrow.
” Garrett was relieved by her lack of hysteria.
He went to bed exhausted.
Sloan stayed up all night.
At 1:15 a.
m.
, she called Raymond Voss.
“The mistress is pregnant.
I need to know everything.
Who else is she sleeping with? What are her vulnerabilities? How do we make this go away? Voss told her what he’d already discovered.
Tina was also sleeping with Damen Cross, Garrett’s best friend and colleague.
The paternity was uncertain.
Tina had taken a paternity test on October 4th.
Results pending.
Sloan absorbed this information.
When will she get the results? Voss checked his notes.
7 to 10 business days from October 4th.
So sometime between October 11th and October 16th, Sloan’s mind worked through scenarios.
If the baby was Garrett’s, she’d use it to destroy him in divorce, take everything, position herself as the victim.
If the baby was Damian’s, she’d expose both affairs, create a massive scandal that would deflect from her own complicity in Garrett’s behavior over the years.
Either way, Tina Batista was the problem, and Sloan Ashford was very good at eliminating problems.
October 12th, 2023 began like any other Thursday at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
Tina woke at 5:00 a.
m.
in her Uptown apartment, showered, put on her navy blue scrubs, and drove to work.
She’d barely slept.
Garrett had threatened to destroy her career.
Damian had until 6:00 p.
m.
to make a decision that would change both their lives.
She felt trapped, desperate, alone.
At 6:47 a.
m.
, Tina walked through Northwestern’s main entrance, swiped her ID badge, took the elevator to the fourth floor cardiac ICU.
She tried to focus on work, on her patients, on anything except the two men who’d rejected her and the baby growing inside her.
But every time she saw Garrett walking past the unit, every time she passed Damen in the hallway, her stomach twisted.
At Garrett’s house in Lincoln Park, Sloan had been awake since dawn.
She’d spent the night planning, calculating, preparing for every possible scenario.
At 7:15 a.
m.
, she called Raymond Voss.
I need you to monitor the paternity test results.
The moment they’re delivered to her email, I need to know.
Voss said he’d already hacked into Tina’s personal email through the hospital Wi-Fi network.
The results would arrive today or tomorrow.
Sloan told him to call her immediately when they came
through.
At 9:00 a.
m.
, Sloan went to her bank, Chase on Michigan Avenue.
She withdrew $75,000 in cash from her business account, the maximum allowed without triggering federal reporting requirements.
The teller asked if everything was okay.
Sloan smiled.
Just a business transaction, nothing to worry about.
She put the cash in a leather briefcase, locked it, and drove to her law office.
At Whitmore and Cats, Sloan spent 2 hours drafting a non-disclosure agreement.
The document was thorough, legally airtight.
Celestina Batista agrees to terminate pregnancy within 30 days.
Leave Chicago within 60 days.
Never contact Garrett Ashford or Damen Cross.
Never reveal the affairs to anyone, including hospital administration, media, or the doctor’s families.
Violation would result in a $2 million lawsuit and criminal charges for extortion.
In exchange, Tina would receive $75,000 immediately upon signing with an additional $25,000 upon proof of terminated pregnancy and departure from Chicago.
Sloan printed the NDA on firm letterhead, had it notorized by the office notary, placed it in an envelope with the $75,000 cash.
Her plan was simple.
Confront Tina, force her to sign, pay her off, and make the problem disappear.
If Tina refused, Sloan would threaten her visa status, her nursing license, criminal charges for having relationships with supervisors.
Either way, Tina would leave Chicago.
In Evston, Damen Cross sat at his kitchen table at 6:00 a.
m.
, unable to eat breakfast.
His children were upstairs getting ready for school.
Elena was in the shower preparing for her trauma surgery shift.
Damian had been awake all night, his mind racing through impossible choices.
Leave Elena and his children for Tina and a baby, or refuse and watch Tina destroy everything.
Anyway, at 8:30 a.
m.
, after Elena left for work and his parents took the kids to school, Damen drove to three different ATMs.
He withdrew the maximum from each.
$500 from Chase, $500 from Harris, $500 from Wells Fargo.
He went to his personal safe at home, took out $48,500 in cash he’d been saving for his children’s college funds.
Total $50,000.
He put it in an envelope, sealed it, and sat staring at it for an hour.
This was his plan.
Offer Tina the money to leave Chicago, get an abortion, disappear.
He knew it was desperate.
He knew it probably wouldn’t work, but he didn’t know what else to do.
At 3:00 p.
m.
, Tina was on her break in the hospital cafeteria.
She bought a salad she couldn’t eat, sat alone at a corner table, and checked her email on her phone.
Her hands shook as she opened her inbox.
There it was.
Gan direct testing confidential results ready.
The subject line made her heart pound.
She clicked the link, entered her password, waited for the page to load.
The results appeared.
She read them once, then twice, then a third time, unable to process what they said.
Sample A, excluded as biological father.
Sample B, 99.
97% probability of paternity.
Damen Cross was the father, not Garrett.
Tina’s mind reeled.
She’d been so certain it was Garrett.
She’d already told him he was the father.
Now she had to tell him the truth.
the baby wasn’t his and she had to tell Damian he was actually the father after he’d already said he wouldn’t leave Elena at 370 results confirmed he was the father at least now he knew for certain he’d have to deal with Tina pay her off make this disappear he texted back I’ll be there 6:15 we’ll figure this out at 3:19 p.
m.
Damian’s phone buzzed during a patient consultation.
He excused himself, read the message, and felt his world collapse.
The paternity results proved he was the father, not Garrett.
Tina was carrying his child, and she was threatening to tell Elena tonight if he didn’t meet her.
He texted back, “Please don’t do this.
I’m bringing money.
Let’s talk before you destroy my family.
” Tina saw both responses and realized her terrible mistake.
She’d sent the message to both men.
They’d both think they were the father.
They’d both show up at 6:15 p.
m.
This was getting worse by the second.
At 2 p.
m.
, Sloan’s phone rang.
Raymond Voss.
The paternity results just came through.
Sample B is the father.
That’s Damian Cross.
Garrett’s not the biological father.
Sloan absorbed this information.
So, the baby was Damian’s, not Garrett’s.
This changed the strategy, but not the objective.
Tina still needed to disappear.
Voss continued, “I’m monitoring her phone.
She just sent a text to both doctors telling them to meet her at supply room 4B at 6:15 p.
m.
tonight.
” She threatened to call Damen’s wife if he doesn’t show.
Sloan made a decision.
I’m going to be there.
I’m going to end this today.
At 5:30 p.
m.
, Sloan left her office, drove to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and parked in the visitor lot.
She carried the leather briefcase containing $75,000 cash, and the NDA.
She wore a business suit, heels, projected confidence and authority.
She entered through the main entrance at 5:55 p.
m.
, took the elevator to the fourth floor, and walked to supply room 4B.
At 6:12 p.
m.
, Sloan entered the supply room.
It was a small space, maybe 12 ft x 15 ft, lined with metal shelving units holding cardiac equipment, medications, supplies.
She turned off the overhead lights, positioned herself behind the tall shelving units in the back corner where she couldn’t be seen from the door.
She placed the briefcase at her feet, and waited.
At 6:14 p.
m.
, Damen arrived.
He saw the lights were off, found it strange, but entered anyway.
He was holding his envelope with $50,000 cash, sweating despite the air conditioning, his heart racing.
He stood in the darkness, waiting for Tina.
At 6:16 p.
m.
, Tina arrived.
She opened the door, saw Damian standing in the dark room.
Why are the lights off? She flipped the switch.
The fluorescent lights flickered on.
She saw Damian’s face, pale and terrified, and the envelope in his hands.
“Did you bring it?” she asked, meaning acknowledgment that he was the father.
Damen held up the envelope.
This is everything I have.
$50,000 cash.
Take it.
Get an abortion.
Leave Chicago.
Please, Tina.
Don’t destroy my family.
Tina stared at him, horrified.
You think you can pay me to kill our baby? That’s your solution.
Before Damian could respond, Sloan stepped out from behind the shelving units.
Our baby, she said, her voice cold and sharp.
Funny, because my husband seems to think it’s his baby.
Tina spun around, saw Sloan Ashford standing there in her expensive suit, holding a briefcase.
Her face went white.
How did you What are you doing here? Sloan smiled without warmth.
I know everything, Celestina.
I know you’ve been sleeping with my husband.
I know you’re also sleeping with Dr.
Cross here.
I know you’re pregnant and playing them both.
What I want to know is how much is it going to cost to make you disappear? Tina’s shock turned to anger.
I’m not disappearing.
This is Damian’s baby.
He needs to take responsibility.
Sloan laughed.
Responsibility? You’re a nurse screwing merry doctors and getting pregnant.
You have no leverage here.
I’m offering you $75,000 and a clean exit.
Take it or face deportation.
At 6:18 p.
m.
, the door opened again.
Garrett walked in, saw his wife, saw Tina, saw Damian holding an envelope of cash.
He froze.
Sloan, what the hell are you doing here? Sloan turned to her husband.
I’m cleaning up your mess like I always do.
The room erupted.
Garrett demanded to know how Sloan found out about Tina.
Sloan revealed she’d known about his affairs for 3 years.
Had documentation of everything.
Damen tried to leave.
Sloan stepped in front of the door, blocking his path.
Nobody leaves until we settle this.
Tina, overwhelmed and cornered, pulled out her phone.
Fine.
I’m calling Elena right now and then I’m calling hospital administration.
You’ll all be destroyed.
Damian lunged for her phone.
Tina jerked away.
Garrett grabbed Damen trying to stop him.
Sloan shouted for everyone to stop.
In the chaos, Sloan grabbed the fire extinguisher mounted on the wall.
She swung it at Tina, aiming to knock the phone from her hand.
The heavy metal canister connected with the side of Tina’s head.
Hard.
The sound was sickening.
A dull crack of metal against skull.
Tina dropped instantly, her body crumpling.
Her head struck the metal base of a shelving unit as she fell.
Blood pulled beneath her almost immediately.
Everyone froze.
Silence.
Damian dropped to his knees beside Tina.
Checked her pulse.
She’s alive barely.
We need to call for help now.
Garrett knelt beside Tina.
Looked at the blood.
Looked at Sloan.
Looked at Damian.
He made a calculation.
If we call for help, we’re all finished.
Our careers, our families, everything.
Sloan in shock whispered, “It was an accident.
She was going to destroy us.
” Garrett’s voice was cold, decisive.
She’s already dying from the head trauma.
Even if we call a code, she probably won’t make it.
And if she wakes up, she destroys all of us.
Damian realized what Garrett meant.
No.
No.
We have to help her.
Garrett placed his hands around Tina’s throat.
Damen tried to pull him off.
Sloan grabbed Damen’s arm, yanked him back with surprising strength.
“Let him finish it,” she hissed.
“She’s as good as dead anyway.
This way, it’s over.
No scandal, no trials, no destroyed families.
” Garrett squeezed.
Tina was unconscious.
Couldn’t fight back.
Her pulse was weak, her breathing shallow.
It took 2 minutes and 14 seconds.
Damian watched, frozen, complicit in his paralysis.
Sloan watched, her hands still gripping Damen’s arm.
At 6:22 p.
m.
, Tina’s pulse stopped.
Celestina Batista was dead.
The baby boy inside her died with her.
Act four, Garrett stood, looked at his hands, looked at Tina’s body on the floor.
Blood had pulled around her head, dark and spreading.
Her phone lay beside her, screen still lit, showing Elena Cross’s contact information.
Garrett’s mind worked quickly, survival instinct overriding shock.
Listen to me very carefully.
This was an accident.
She slipped, hit her head.
I found her and tried to help.
That’s the only story.
Do you both understand? Sloan nodded, still holding the briefcase with $75,000 that would never be used.
Damian was shaking, crying.
I can’t do this.
I can’t lie about this.
Garrett grabbed him by the shoulders.
You’re already in it.
You were here.
Your DNA is in this room.
You watched and didn’t call for help.
You’re as guilty as we are.
Sloan spoke, her lawyer voice returning.
Damian, think about Elena, your children.
Do you want them to know you were screwing a nurse? That you got her pregnant? That you let her die? Damian’s resistance crumbled.
He nodded weakly.
Garrett gave instructions.
Sloan, you leave first.
Back stairwell, exit through the ER entrance.
Cameras won’t get a clear face.
Damian, you leave second.
Main elevator, exit through the lobby.
Act normal.
I’ll wait 5 minutes.
Then discover the body and call a code.
They synchronized watches.
It was 6:23 p.
m.
Sloan picked up her briefcase, wiped the fire extinguisher handle with her suit jacket, and left at 6:24 p.
m.
She walked quickly to the back stairwell, descended four flights, exited through the ER entrance where cameras were pointed at ambulance bays, not the door.
She was in her car by 6:28 p.
m.
Damen left at 6:26 p.
m.
He took the main elevator down, walked through the lobby past security, tried to keep his face neutral.
His hands were shaking.
He got to his car in the parking garage, sat behind the wheel, and vomited into a plastic bag.
Then he drove home to Elena and their children.
Garrett waited in the supply room with Tina’s body.
He used the time to stage the scene.
He moved the fire extinguisher farther from the body, made it look like it had fallen from the wall mount.
He scattered a few supplies from the shelves, suggesting Tina had grabbed at them while falling.
He wiped surfaces he’d touched.
At 6:28 p.
m.
, he stepped into the hallway and screamed, “Code blue, supply room 4B.
I need help.
” Staff rushed from all directions.
Two nurses, a resident, the code team with their crash cart.
Garrett was on his knees beside Tina performing chest compressions.
His face showing perfect panic.
I was walking past, heard something fall, found her like this.
She must have hit her head.
The code team took over.
Advanced cardiac life support protocol.
Intubation for access, epinephrine, atropene, defibrillation.
They worked for 15 minutes trying everything.
At 6:43 p.
m.
, Dr.
Sarah Kim, the attending physician, checked for a pulse, found none.
Checked pupils, found them fixed and dilated.
Time of death, 6:43 p.
m.
Tina’s body was covered with a white sheet.
Hospital security was called to secure the scene.
Garrett gave a statement to security.
He’d been walking past the supply room around 6:28 p.
m.
Heard a noise like something falling.
opened the door, found Tina unconscious on the floor with blood around her head.
He had immediately started CPR and called for help.
He had no idea what had happened.
It appeared she’d slipped and hit her head.
At 7:15 p.
m.
, Amara Aonquo was finishing her shift in the pediatric ICU on the sixth floor.
She was exhausted, looking forward to going home, taking a shower, sleeping.
Her phone buzzed with a text in the hospital staff group chat.
A nurse from cardiac ICU.
Did you hear? Tina Batista died tonight.
Found in a supply room.
They think she slipped and hit her head.
So tragic.
Amara stared at her phone, unable to process the words.
Tina was dead.
That was impossible.
She’d seen Tina that morning in the parking lot.
Waved to her.
Now she was dead.
Amara called the cardiac ICU immediately.
A colleague confirmed it.
Tina had been found unconscious in supply room 4B around 6:30 p.
m.
Dr.
Ashford had found her.
They tried everything, but she died.
Amara’s mind raced.
Tina had been terrified of Garrett Ashford.
Tina was pregnant with either Garrett’s or Damian’s baby.
Tina had threatened to expose both men today, and now she was dead, supposedly from an accident.
Amara didn’t believe it for a second.
At 7:45 p.
m.
, Amara went to the cardiac ICU.
Police and hospital security were there interviewing staff.
Amara approached a security officer.
I was Tina’s roommate.
I need to know what happened.
The officer said it appeared to be an accidental fall, head trauma.
Tragic, but not suspicious.
Amara insisted on speaking to police.
The officer called Chicago PD at 8:30 p.
m.
Detective Sharon Rivera arrived at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
She was 45 years old, had been with Chicago PD for 20 years, worked homicide for the last 12.
She’d seen enough to know that accidents in hospitals were sometimes not accidents at all.
She met with hospital security first, reviewed their initial reports.
A nurse, Celestina Batista, found unconscious in a supply room at approximately 6:28 p.
m.
by Dr.
Garrett Ashford, died despite resuscitation efforts.
Apparent accidental fall.
Rivera asked to see the scene.
Supply room 4B had been secured, but not yet processed as a crime scene because it wasn’t considered one.
Rivera entered, studied the room carefully, blood on the floor where the body had been.
A fire extinguisher on the floor near the blood apparently fallen from its wall mount.
Medical supplies scattered, but something felt wrong.
The blood spatter pattern didn’t match a simple fall.
There were droplets on the wall suggesting motion struggle, not just vertical impact.
At 8:45 p.
m.
, Rivera interviewed Amara Akono.
Amara told her everything.
The two affairs with Garrett and Damian, the pregnancy, the uncertainty about paternity, the threats Tina had made to both men, the paternity test results that had come back today.
Amara showed Rivera screenshots she’d saved from Tina’s text messages, intimate conversations with both doctors, plans to meet.
Rivera’s instincts sharpened.
Two married doctors having affairs with the same nurse.
Nurse gets pregnant, threatens to expose them.
nurse ends up dead the same day.
This was no accident.
Rivera requested Tina’s personal effects immediately.
Hospital security brought her belongings, scrubs, shoes, and her phone.
Rivera examined the phone.
Last sent message at 3:17 p.
m.
Group text to two contacts labeled Garrett and Damian.
The message read, “Paternity results came back.
It’s yours.
supply room 4B at 6:15 p.
m.
Come alone or I’m calling Elena tonight.
Rivera felt adrenaline spike.
Tina had told both men to meet her at the supply room at 6:15 p.
m.
She died at approximately 6:22 p.
m.
At 9:15 p.
m.
, Rivera requested all security footage from the fourth floor between 5:00 p.
m.
and 7:00 p.
m.
hospital security provided access to their system.
Rivera watched the footage carefully.
At 6:12 p.
m.
, a woman in a business suit entered supply room 4B.
Her back was to the camera, face not visible.
At 6:14 p.
m.
, a man in a white doctor’s coat entered the same room.
Rivera paused, zoomed in, identified him by his hospital ID badge.
Dr.
Damen Cross.
At 6:16 p.
m.
, a woman in nursing scrubs entered supply room 4B, Tina Batista.
At 6:18 p.
m.
, another man in a white coat entered, Dr.
Garrett Ashford.
All four people were now in the supply room together.
At 6:24 p.
m.
, the woman in the business suit exited, walked quickly toward the back stairwell.
At 6:26 p.
m.
, Damen Cross exited, took the main elevator down.
At 6:28 p.
m.
, Garrett Ashford opened the door and called for help.
Rivera ran the license plate of the business suit woman’s car from parking garage footage.
The Mercedes was registered to Sloan Ashford, Garrett’s wife.
Rivera now had four people in the room when one died.
Tina, Garrett, Damian, and Sloan.
She had motive.
Both doctors had affairs with Tina.
She was pregnant.
She threatened exposure.
she had opportunity.
All three were there when she died.
At 10:30 p.
m.
, Rivera called her lieutenant, requested arrest warrants for Garrett Ashford, Damen Cross, and Sloan Ashford, all for first-degree murder and conspiracy.
At 11:15 p.
m.
, Chicago PD arrived at the Asheford home in Lincoln Park.
Garrett and Sloan were both there, their children asleep upstairs.
Police knocked.
Garrett answered, saw the badges knew immediately.
Both were arrested, read their rights, taken in separate cars.
Their children woke to commotion, saw parents in handcuffs.
A grandmother was called.
At 11:45 p.
m.
, police arrived at the Cross home in Evston.
Elena answered, confused.
Damian was in his study.
Police entered.
Dr.
Cross, you’re under arrest for the murder of Celestina Batista.
Elena screamed.
What? There’s been a mistake.
Damian didn’t resist, didn’t speak, just allowed the handcuffs.
Elena was sobbing.
Their children woke up crying.
Elena’s parents were called to take the children.
Damian was driven to the station, silent the entire way.
Within 12 hours of Tina’s death, all three suspects were in custody.
October 13th, 2023.
2 a.
m.
Detective Sharon Rivera sat across from Dr.
Garrett Ashford in interrogation room 3 at Chicago Police Department’s Area 3 headquarters.
Garrett had requested an attorney.
Eleanor Banks, one of Chicago’s top criminal defense lawyers, sat beside him.
She’d been hired by Sloan’s law firm, an irony not lost on anyone.
Rivera placed an evidence folder on the table.
Dr.
Ashford, let’s start simple.
You stated you found nurse Batista unconscious at 6:28 p.
m.
Is that correct? Garrett nodded.
Yes, I was walking past the supply room, heard a noise, went to investigate.
Rivera opened the folder, slid a photograph across the table.
Security camera footage timestamped 6:18 p.
m.
showing Garrett entering supply room 4B.
This shows you entering that room at 6:18 p.
m.
10 minutes before you claim you found her.
Explain.
Garrett stared at the photo.
His attorney whispered in his ear.
Garrett’s voice was steady.
I may have misremembered the exact time.
It was traumatic finding her like that.
Rivera slid another photo across.
This shows your wife entering the same room at 6:12 p.
m.
This shows Dr.
Damian Cross entering at 6:14 p.
m.
This shows nurse Batista entering at 6:16 p.
m.
All four of you were in that room.
She ends up dead 6 minutes later.
What happened? Garrett leaned back.
I want to speak with my attorney privately.
The interrogation paused.
Rivera left the room, watched through the one-way glass as Garrett and Elellanor Banks spoke in urgent whispers.
She knew he was calculating, trying to find a story that fit the evidence.
But Rivera had more evidence than he knew about.
At 3:30 a.
m.
, Rivera moved to interrogation room 5 where Dr.
Damen Cross sat with a public defender.
Damian looked destroyed, his eyes red, hands shaking.
The public defender, a young woman named Sarah Mitchell, seemed overwhelmed.
Rivera sat down, opened her folder.
Dr.
Cross Celestina Batista sent you a text at 3:17 p.
m.
yesterday telling you to meet her in supply room 4B at 6:15 p.
m.
Did you go? Damian’s face crumpled.
He started crying before he could answer.
Sarah Mitchell put her hand on his arm, warned him not to say anything, but Damen couldn’t hold it in anymore.
The guilt was eating him alive.
Yes, I went.
I brought money.
I thought I could pay her to leave.
Rivera leaned forward.
What happened in that room? Damian’s confession poured out.
He told Rivera everything.
The affair with Tina, the pregnancy, the paternity test confirming he was the father.
Tina’s threat to tell his wife.
He described arriving at the supply room.
Finding it dark.
Sloan Ashford already there hiding.
Then Tina arriving then Garrett.
The confrontation escalating.
Tina threatening to call Elena and hospital administration.
Sloan grabbed the fire extinguisher, Damen said, his voice breaking.
She swung it at Tina.
It hit her head.
Tina fell, hit the metal shelf.
There was so much blood.
I checked her pulse.
She was still alive.
I said we needed to call for help.
Damen sobbed.
Garrett said if we called for help, we’d all be destroyed.
He said she was dying anyway.
Then he he put his hands around her throat.
Rivera kept her voice neutral.
Dr.
Ashford strangled her.
Damen nodded, unable to speak.
“And what did you do?” Damen whispered.
“I tried to stop him.
” Sloan grabbed my arm, pulled me back.
She said to let him finish it.
I just stood there.
I watched her die and I did nothing.
I’m as guilty as they are.
Sarah Mitchell was frantically trying to stop Damian from talking, but he wanted to confess.
He needed to confess.
Rivera had the entire statement recorded.
She asked one more question.
How long did Dr.
Ashford strangle her? Damen closed his eyes.
Seeing it again.
2 minutes, maybe more.
Felt like forever.
She wasn’t even conscious.
He just kept squeezing until her pulse stopped.
At 5:00 a.
m.
, Rivera interviewed Sloan Ashford in interrogation room 2.
Sloan had her own attorney now, Thomas Riley from a different firm.
No conflict of interest.
Sloan was calm, composed, answering carefully.
Rivera showed her the security footage.
Mrs.
Ashford, why were you at Northwestern Memorial Hospital on October 12th? Sloan’s answer was practiced.
I went to confront the woman having an affair with my husband.
Rivera asked how she knew about the affair.
Sloan admitted hiring a private investigator 3 years ago.
Having documentation of six affairs, Rivera asked what happened in the supply room.
Sloan’s story was self-defense.
I went to offer her money to leave Chicago.
She became aggressive, threatened my family.
She pulled out her phone to call people to destroy us.
I tried to take the phone.
She fought me.
I grabbed the fire extinguisher to defend myself.
I swung it.
It hit her head.
She fell.
Rivera pressed.
Then what? Sloan’s composure cracked slightly.
I panicked.
I didn’t mean to hurt her that badly.
My husband came in.
He checked her.
He said she was dying from the head injury.
He said if we called for help, we’d all face charges.
Rivera leaned in.
So, you agreed to let him strangle her? Sloan shook her head.
I didn’t agree to anything.
I was in shock.
I couldn’t move.
Rivera slid a photograph across the table.
Dr.
Cross says you grabbed his arm when he tried to help her.
He says you told your husband to finish it.
Is that true? Sloan’s lawyer objected.
Sloan said nothing.
Rivera played her final card.
Mrs.
Ashford, there’s a security camera in that supply room.
New installation from October 1st.
Not on the main system.
We have video of everything.
Sloan’s face went pale.
What? Rivera nodded.
We have video of you striking Tina Batista with the fire extinguisher.
Of you grabbing Dr.
Cross’s arm.
Of you watching your husband strangle a woman to death.
All of it.
So, I’ll ask you again.
What really happened? Sloan looked at her attorney.
Thomas Riley requested a private consultation.
The interrogation ended.
At 10:00 a.
m.
, forensic teams processed supply room 4B as a crime scene.
They collected DNA samples from surfaces, photographed blood spatter patterns, measured distances, documented everything.
The fire extinguisher was bagged as evidence.
Blood on the floor was swabbed.
The metal shelf edge where Tina’s head had struck was photographed showing tissue and hair.
The hidden security camera was the breakthrough.
Hospital IT had installed it on October 1st as part of a theft prevention program.
Supply room 4B stored high-value cardiac equipment worth $200,000.
The camera was small, mounted in a corner near the ceiling, recording continuously to an independent hard drive.
It had forgotten to add it to the main security system.
Rivera watched the footage with the forensics team and the medical examiner, Dr.
Patricia Hang.
The video was crystal clear.
Audio included.
They watched Sloan enter at 6:12 p.
m.
Turn off lights.
Hide.
Damen enter at 6:14 p.
m.
holding an envelope.
Tina enter at 6:16 p.
m.
The confrontation beginning.
Garrett entering at 6:18 p.
m.
The room erupting in shouting.
At 6:20 p.
m.
on the video, Tina pulled out her phone.
Damen lunged.
Sloan grabbed the fire extinguisher from the wall.
She swung it hard, a baseball bat swing, connecting with the left side of Tina’s head.
The impact was audible on the recording.
A sickening crack.
Tina collapsed, her head striking the metal shelf base.
Blood pulled immediately.
The video showed Damen checking Tina’s pulse, saying, “She’s alive.
We need help.
” Garrett saying, “If we call for help, we’re all finished.
” Sloan grabbing Damen’s arm, pulling him back, saying clearly, “Let him finish it.
She’s as good as dead anyway.
This way, it’s over.
” Then Garrett kneeling, placing both hands around Tina’s throat, squeezing.
Tina was unconscious, couldn’t fight.
The strangulation lasted 2 minutes and 14 seconds.
All three watched.
At 6:22 p.
m.
, Tina’s body went completely still.
Dr.
Hang performed the autopsy on October 13th.
Cause of death, asphyxiation due to manual strangulation.
Contributing factor, severe blunt force trauma to left temporal region of skull.
The head injury was serious, potentially fatal without treatment, but Tina had still been alive when Garrett strangled her.
She would have survived the head trauma with immediate medical intervention.
The strangulation killed her.
The autopsy also confirmed the pregnancy.
Male fetus 12 weeks gestational age.
DNA testing on the fetus matched Damen Cross as the biological father with 99.
9% certainty.
Tina had been carrying Damen’s son.
October 14th, all three suspects were formally arraigned in Cook County Criminal Court.
Garrett Ashford, first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder.
Sloan Ashford, seconddegree murder, conspiracy to commit murder.
Damen Cross, accessory to murder, conspiracy to commit murder, obstruction of justice.
Judge Maria Santos denied bail for all three, citing flight risk and the severity of charges.
The media descended.
Chicago doctor murder triangle was the headline across every news outlet.
Court TV announced they broadcast the trial live.
The story had everything.
Wealthy doctors, a pregnant nurse, and a fair scandal, a murder in a hospital.
Northwestern Memorial Hospital suspended all three defendants credentials.
The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation suspended Garrett and Damian’s medical licenses pending the outcome of criminal proceedings.
The Illinois State Bar opened an investigation into Sloan’s conduct in Manila.
Tina’s mother, Peara, received the call at 3:00 a.
m.
Manila time on October 14th.
Her daughter was dead, murdered in Chicago.
Pearla collapsed.
Her other children gathered around her, all of them crying.
They’d lost their sister, their provider, their hope for a better future.
The family had no money to bring Tina’s body home.
Northwestern Memorial Hospital facing a potential wrongful death lawsuit agreed to pay all costs to transport Tina’s remains to Manila.
Tina’s funeral in Quesan City was attended by over 500 people.
Her nursing school classmates, her colleagues from Philippine General Hospital, neighbors, family, friends.
Her casket was closed.
The family didn’t want people to see what had been done to her.
Pearla placed a photograph on the casket.
Tina in her Northwestern nursing scrubs, smiling, proud.
That’s how they wanted to remember her.
November 2023 through February 2024 was consumed by pre-trial motions.
The defense teams tried to suppress the security camera footage, arguing it was obtained through illegal surveillance.
Motion denied.
They tried to separate the trials, arguing the conspiracy charge was insufficient to justify joint proceedings.
Motion denied.
They sought change of venue due to media coverage.
Granted, the trial was moved to Rockford, Illinois, 90 mi northwest of Chicago.
The prosecution, led by assistant district attorney Marcus Torres, built an overwhelming case.
security footage, audio recordings, DNA evidence, Damian’s full confession, medical examiner testimony, digital evidence, including text messages, and paternity test results.
Torres had everything he needed for conviction.
The defense knew they couldn’t win a quiddle.
Their only hope was reducing charges, arguing mitigating circumstances, seeking mercy at sentencing.
The trial was set for March 18th, 2024 in Wnebago County Circuit Court.
March 18th, 2024, jury selection began in Rockford.
The case had consumed Chicago media for 5 months.
Finding impartial jurors was difficult.
After 4 days, 12 jurors, and four alternates were seated.
Seven women, five men, ages 24 to 68.
The jury was sequestered in a hotel.
No media access.
Guarded 24 hours.
Judge Patricia Rodriguez, 28 years on the bench, known for running a strict courtroom, presided.
Opening statements began March 25th.
ADA Marcus Torres spoke for 52 minutes.
He was methodical, detailed, building the timeline piece by piece.
This is a case about three people who valued their reputations more than a human life.
Dr.
Dr.
Garrett Ashford had an affair with Celestina Batista.
Dr.
Damen Cross had an affair with the same woman when she became pregnant and threatened to expose them.
They decided she had to die.
Torres showed the jury the security footage in his opening.
A risky move, but calculated for maximum impact.
The courtroom fell silent as they watched Sloan strike Tina, watched Tina fall, watched Garrett strangle her while Damen and Sloan stood by.
Two jurors cried.
One looked away.
The image of Garrett’s hands around Tina’s throat for over two minutes was seared into their minds.
The defense attorneys gave their openings.
Eleanor Banks for Garrett argued the situation spiraled out of control.
That Garrett made a terrible decision in a moment of panic, but didn’t plan to kill anyone.
Thomas Riley for Sloan argued self-defense, that Tina was aggressive and threatening.
Linda Vasquez for Damian argued her client was paralyzed by fear, traumatized, guilty of cowardice, but not murder.
The prosecution case lasted 9 days.
Torres called 34 witnesses.
Amara testified about Tina’s fears, showed text messages proving both affairs.
Detective Rivera walked the jury through the investigation.
Dr.
Hang testified about cause of death, the timeline showing Tina was alive when strangled.
Hospital staff testified about Garrett’s pattern of inappropriate behavior with nurses.
Elena Cross testified about Damian’s lies, the betrayal, the destroyed family.
The most devastating testimony came from Tina’s mother.
Pearl Batista appeared via video link from Manila.
A translator beside her.
She spoke in Tagalog, her voice breaking.
My daughter worked so hard.
She sent money every month to feed us.
She came to America for better life.
They killed her and my grandson because of their lies.
The defense called psychiatric experts who testified about stress reactions, impaired judgment, trauma responses, but Torres destroyed them on cross-examination.
Dr.
Ashford had 2 minutes and 14 seconds to stop strangling Ms.
Batista.
That’s not impaired judgment.
That’s murder.
None of the three defendants testified.
Their attorneys advised silence.
Closing arguments came April 5th.
Torres spoke for 67 minutes.
You’ve seen the video.
Sloan Ashford struck first.
Garrett Ashford strangled her while she was dying.
Damian Cross watched and did nothing.
All three are guilty.
They murdered Celestina Batista and her unborn son to protect their secrets.
The defense closings argued for reduced charges, for mercy, for understanding of human weakness.
The jury looked unmoved.
April 7th, after 29 hours of deliberation, the jury returned.
The courtroom was packed, standing room only.
Tina’s family watched via video from Manila.
Elena Cross sat in the front row with her parents.
The verdicts were read, “Garrett Ashford, guilty of first-degree murder.
Sloan Ashford, guilty of seconddegree murder.
Damen Cross, guilty of accessory to murder and obstruction of justice.
All three showed different reactions.
Garrett stared ahead emotionless.
Sloan cried silently.
Damen collapsed in his chair, sobbing.
Sentencing came May 15th.
Victim impact statements were read first.
Tina’s siblings spoke about losing their sister, their financial support, their hope.
Amara spoke about losing her best friend.
Elena spoke about Damian’s betrayal destroying their family.
Then the sentences.
Garrett Ashford life in prison without possibility of parole.
Sloan Ashford 25 years to life.
Damen Cross 18 years eligible for parole after 15.
Judge Rodriguez addressed each defendant.
To Garrett, you strangled a defenseless woman to death.
You deserve no mercy to Sloan.
You struck the first blow and encouraged the killing.
Your law degree makes this worse, not better.
To Damian, you watched a woman be murdered and did nothing.
Your cowardice is criminal.
Garrett was transferred to Stateville Correctional Center.
Maximum security.
Other inmates learned he was a doctor who killed a pregnant nurse.
He was attacked three times in the first 6 months.
He now spends 23 hours a day in protective custody alone in an 8×10 cell.
In a prison interview in August 2024, Garrett showed no real remorse.
I think about that night constantly.
I wish it had gone differently, but she was going to destroy everything I built.
He focuses on his own loss, not Tina’s death.
Sloan was sent to Logan Correctional Center, the women’s facility.
She works in the prison law library.
helps other inmates with appeals, though she can never practice law again.
Her children refuse contact.
Her sister forwards Sloan’s letters unopened.
Sloan will be 65 when eligible for parole in 2049.
In a prison interview, she minimized her role.
It was an accident.
Everything spiraled.
Garrett killed her, not me.
Damian went to Pontiac Correctional Center, medium security.
He shares a cell, works in the prison kitchen, attends therapy weekly.
He writes to Elena and his children every week.
Every letter is returned.
His children are being raised in San Diego.
Elena’s maiden name now theirs.
Damian appears genuinely broken by guilt.
I should have called for help.
I should have stopped him.
I was a coward.
I live with that every second.
Elena rebuilt her life in California.
She still works as a trauma surgeon, has primary custody of Lucas, Emma, and Sophie.
She’s dating another surgeon, slowly healing.
She changed her name legally, disappeared from public view, wants only privacy for her family.
Her children are in therapy, struggling, but resilient.
They ask about their father.
Elena tells them the truth.
Daddy made terrible choices and is in prison.
Tina’s family received $3.
2 2 million from the wrongful death settlement with Northwestern Memorial Hospital and the sale of Garrett and Sloan’s assets.
The money went to Manila.
Pear stopped working as a housekeeper.
Marisel, Carlos, and Anna all attended university.
They established the Celestina Batista Foundation, providing scholarships for Filipino nurses studying in America.
Pearla visits Tina’s grave daily at Manila Memorial Park.
She talks to her daughter, tells her about the family, asks for forgiveness that she couldn’t protect her.
Pearla, aged 20 years in 6 months.
She’s 57 but looks 77, her body broken by grief.
She’ll never recover.
October 12th each year, the anniversary of Tina’s death brings memorial services at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
Hundreds of nurses attend, wearing white ribbons, honoring Tina’s memory.
A small plaque outside supply room 4B reads in memory of Celestina Batista, RN, 1992 to 2023.
A dedicated nurse, beloved daughter, forever remembered.
The room itself was converted to storage.
The equipment moved elsewhere.
Staff avoid it.
They say it feels wrong, heavy, haunted by what happened there.
The hospital implemented new policies.
Mandatory reporting of staff relationships, enhanced security, counseling services, zero tolerance for supervisors dating subordinates.
Celestina Batista came to America with dreams.
She wanted to help her family, build a career, maybe find love.
She worked 60-hour weeks, sent money home, saved lives as a cardiac ICU nurse.
She made mistakes, fell for married men, got pregnant.
Those mistakes shouldn’t have cost her life.
But three people decided her truth was too dangerous.
Sloan struck first, protecting her reputation.
Garrett strangled her, protecting his career.
Damen watched, protecting his family.
All three are in prison now, but Tina is still dead.
Her son is still dead.
Her mother still cries every night.
Three people destroyed multiple lives that night.
Tina and her baby are gone.
Garrett, Sloan, and Damian are imprisoned.
Elena and her children are traumatized.
Evelyn and Noah Ashford lost both parents.
Eight lives destroyed, maybe more, all because of secrets and lies.
Celestina Batista was 31 years old.
She deserved better.
She deserved to raise her son, to see her family prosper, to live the American dream she’d worked so hard to achieve.
Instead, she died on a supply room floor, strangled by a man she trusted, while two others watched and did nothing.
She will never be forgotten.
Her scholarship fund helps dozens of Filipino nurses every year.
Her memory lives in everyone she saved as a nurse, everyone she helped, everyone who knew her kindness.
That’s what matters most.
Tina was here.
She mattered.
She saved lives.
She loved her family.
She had dreams worth living and she will always be remembered not for how she died but for how she lived.
