Paramedic accused of poisoning daughter, 11, with eyedrops years after allegedly killing wife with same substance

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A North Carolina man accused of fatally poisoning his wife with eyedrops in 2018 is now being accused of attempting to poison his 11-year-old daughter with the same substance, according to court documents.

Joshua Lee Hunsucker, 39, was booked into Gaston County Jail on Tuesday, inmate records show.

He was charged with the first-degree murder of his wife, Stacy Robinson Hunsucker, in September 2018 using eyedrops. Her blood contained a suspiciously high amount of tetrahydrozoline, a chemical often found in eye drops and nasal sprays, which he allegedly would have had access to as a paramedic.

Now, he is accused of using the same active ingredient to poison his daughter.

Hunsucker is accused of putting eye drops into his 11-year-old’s drink, as the substance was found in her medical tests in February 2023. The tests also revealed that a depression drug, “not approved for children,” was also found in her system, court documents showed.

Hunsucker has also been accused of having “staged his own kidnapping and assault” in February 2023. The same drug was found in Hunsucker’s truck “during the false kidnapping report”, the filing says.

Prosecutors accused the father of poisoning his child in an effort to implicate his former in-laws, who are also witnesses in his wife’s murder case. “The poisoning of [Hunsucker’s daughter] was once again done with an attempt [to] implicate Mr and Mrs Robinson in the death of his wife and remove the Robinsons from the lives of his daughters,” the filing said.

Hunsucker has two daughters. “The state has great concern for the safety” of his children, prosecutors wrote, as well as his in-laws, who have been granted more unsupervised visitation with the girls. The court warned that more visitation rights will “further inflame the defendant’s feelings towards them.”

Prosecutors said his behavior toward his in-laws has become “increasingly aggressive” and that Hunsucker has engaged in a “pattern of harassment” toward the in-laws.

Hunsucker this week faced four counts of intimidation and four counts of obstruction of justice, according to documents.

His murder case is ongoing and has yet to go to trial. He has pleaded not guilty.

Before his wife died, Hunsucker reportedly told two former co-workers that if he ever killed someone, he would do so using eye drops, the Gaston Gazette reported. After her death, he moved to collect $250,000 in life insurance payments two days after she died. “Based on suspicious activities of the defendant, an investigation into her death was opened and that blood sample was tested,” court documents said.

Her death was first thought to be a heart attack, given her history of heart problems, but an autopsy later revealed ‘very high levels’ of the dangerous substance. He was also charged with insurance fraud in 2018.

The paramedic was arrested in December 2019 and released after securing a $1.5m bond. He was required to wear an ankle monitor and maintain curfew as a condition of his release, the filing states.

Prosecutors are now asking for his bond to be revoked, arguing that his “dangerous actions will continue to escalate,” according to court documents. They are asking the court to place Hunsucker in custody “on a hold.”

Hunsucker’s attorney declined to comment, citing a gag order.