Fort Worth dentist arrested after child dies at dental office

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Published July 15, 2026 7:47 PM CDT

The Brief

    • 48-year-old Chrishelle Hemphill was arrested by the Fort Worth Police Department on Wednesday and charged with injury to a child — serious bodily injury.
    • Hemphill was arrested after an investigation into a child's death at her dental office in April. A toxic amount of meperidine was found in the child's system after death.
    • An arrest affidavit states Hemphill did not properly recognize the respiratory troubles the child was having, and failed to properly administer medication to address the opiate overdose.

FORT WORTH, Texas - A Fort Worth dentist was arrested on Wednesday after an investigation into a child's death at her dental office in April.

Fort Worth dentist arrest

Chrishelle Hemphill, 48

What we know:

48-year-old Chrishelle Hemphill was arrested on July 15 and charged with injury to a child — serious bodily injury.

Investigators determined Hemphill was responsible for the April death of a 4-year-old child at Cuddle Kids Dental at 5329 Sycamore Street in Fort Worth.

Dig deeper:

An arrest affidavit states the victim did not wake up following a procedure performed by Hemphill on Apr. 1.

An unusually high amount of meperidine (demerol, an opiate) was found in the child's blood system. A medical examiner said the amount in the child's system would have been toxic for an adult.

Investigators also found Hemphill failed to properly address signs of respiratory distress, and gave the victim improper medication to address an opiate overdose.

The affidavit states Hemphill used an AED to check the child's pulse after finding the victim unresponsive, and administered Flumazenil to counteract the merepidine when Narcan should have been administered.

The Source: Information in this article comes from the Fort Worth Police Department.

Fort WorthCrime and Public SafetyFort Worth Police Department