Topeka man pleads guilty in attacks at Larned State Hospital
A 22-year-old Kansas man has pleaded guilty in two attacks at the Larned State Hospital.
The Pawnee County Attorney said in a news release that Anthony Ruiz-Hernandez, of Topeka, pleaded guilty Wednesday to attempted first-degree murder. Hays Post reports the charge stems from Hernandez’s attack on two other patients at the hospital in October 2018.
One victim suffered severe head trauma in the attacks. Investigators say the attacks were done partly to improve Ruiz-Hernandez’s standing in a prison gang. All the people involved were at the hospital for forensic evaluations.
In exchange for the plea, two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and one count of aggravated battery were dropped.
A co-defendant in the attacks, Andres Gustavo Barrientos, of Leavenworth, will be arraigned on March 14th.
