Norman veterans center worker charged with manslaughter had been disciplined for drug use

By Jennifer Palmer

A nurse’s aide at the Norman Veterans Center was allegedly high on narcotic painkillers when she left work Aug. 8 and crashed her car into a retired police officer, killing him. It wasn’t the first time she had been under the influence of prescription drugs at work, disciplinary records show.

Records released last week by the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs show Kristen Eastham received a formal reprimand Nov. 19 for coming to work impaired. She appeared disoriented and confused during her shift Nov. 12, and told a nurse she was taking prescription Xanax and “either had a reaction to it or had taken more than prescribed.”

Eastham also had been written up at work four other times for various reasons, including yelling at another employee and sleeping on the job. She was hired in 2013.

Prosecutors last week charged Eastham, 32, with first-degree manslaughter and driving under the influence of drugs. She’s accused of causing an early morning car crash on Sooner Road in which Arthur “Art” DiVecchio, a retired Moore police officer and Vietnam veteran, was killed.

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