New information on nurse accused of starving premature baby

Published: Updated:
Kelly Rita Perrigo. Credit: The Cape Coral Police Department

New information has been released about what happened behind closed doors when a nurse allegedly starved a premature baby.

The baby has had issues with gaining weight, lack of energy and even liver failure.

Perrigo said her primary experience was with geriatric care, and she had no experience with pediatric care other than her own children. Yet, she was still confident in her ability to do the job.

She worked for Team Select, a company whose website stated that it specializes in long-term adult care and long-term pediatric care.

Perrigo told the Cape Coral Police Department the company knew she didn’t have any experience with young children.

She also said she wasn’t sure of the child’s exact diagnosis but knew he was a micro-preemie born at 24 weeks.

Perrigo was reportedly instructed to feed the baby a bottle and put any remaining formula into his feeding tube.

Instead, surveillance footage inside the home captured Perrigo feeding the baby for a few minutes, leaving the bedroom with a full bottle and dumping the rest of the formula down the sink.

The footage showed this had been happening for a little over a month. The police report has text messages between Perrigo and the baby’s mother.

One text message from the mother reads in part, “I cried this morning because I just never thought Kelly, but when he had super low blood sugar, I knew something was wrong. I just knew.”

Perrigo responded with this text message, saying, “Yes, I take full responsibility. I do want to say that there was never any malice involved. I should have put the rest of the milk in the tube when he wouldn’t drink it. I am sincerely sorry.”

Throughout the report and the text messages, Perrigo profusely apologizes, saying she never thought her actions would intentionally put the baby at risk.

Perrigo also called her decisions “poor nursing judgment.”

WINK News is reaching out to Team Select Tuesday morning to ask if someone with geriatric care experience could care for premature babies.

Perrigo has been charged with child neglect.

Copyright ©2025 Fort Myers Broadcasting. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written consent.