Man Accused of Poisoning 10-Year-Old Daughter with Eye Drops After Allegedly Killing Wife with Same Substance: DA (2024)

• Joshua Lee Hunsucker has been accused of poisoning his then-10-year-old daughter with the same eye drops substance he allegedly used to kill his late wife, court documents obtained by PEOPLE stated
• Inmate documents showed the suspect was arrested on Tuesday, Aug. 6. by Gaston County Police
• He was previously accused of allegedly killing his late wife Stacy, who died on Sept. 23, 2018, at age 32, and is awaiting trial

A North Carolina paramedic accused of using eye drops to kill his wife is facing new charges, this time involving his young daughter.

Gaston County Sheriff's Office inmate documents viewed by PEOPLE show Joshua Lee Hunsucker, 39, was arrested on Tuesday, Aug. 6. by Gaston County Police with a total bond amount set at $1.5 million.

Per court documents dated Aug. 5 and obtained by PEOPLE, Hunsucker is facing four counts of felony intimidate witness charges, and four counts of misdemeanor obstruct justice charges.

A motion to revoke Hunsucker's bond filed by Special Prosecutor R. Jordan Green and District Attorney Travis G. Page on Aug. 6 stated the suspect had "engaged in a pattern of harassment" directed at his now-former-in-laws, John and Susie Robinson, who are witnesses in their daughter Stacy's case.

The motion also accuses him of poisoning his daughter, then 10, with the same eye drops he allegedly gave his late wife Stacy before the woman died at age 32 on Sept. 23, 2018.

The motion alleges Hunsucker put "the same substance that killed his wife, tetrahydrozoline, into a beverage bottle which was consumed by (his daughter)” on or around Feb 24, 2023. It adds that a urine sample allegedly revealed traces of the chemical in the girl's body.

Hunsucker's daughter was treated at both Caromont Hospital and Levine's Children's Hospital after falling ill, according to the motion.

“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 motion, which adds that Hunsucker also shared a 9-year-old child with his late wife, alleges.

Before the suspect's daughter was taken to hospital, she had been suffering from "symptoms including but not limited to low blood pressure, low heart rate, extreme exhaustion and sleepiness and constricted blood vessels," the motion alleges.

It also alleges that another drug, one not approved for children, was found in his daughter's system, as well — and the same drug was allegedly discovered in Hunsucker's car after he was accused of staging his own kidnapping and assault in Mount Holly on or around Feb. 4, 2023.

"He reported that he stopped to change a flat tire and was pistol whipped in the head multiple times. His hands were then zip tied and he was injected with an unknown substance," the motion states, summarizing Hunsucker's alleged claims.

Hunsucker allegedly claimed John Robinson "was the person that attacked him." But an investigation by the Mount Holly Police Department "found no evidence to support this claim," further alleging that Hunsucker concocted the scheme "to shift responsibility from the Defendant to the Robinsons for his wife's death."

Hunsucker — who is accused in the Aug. 6 motion of doing things like sending packages to the Robinsons demanding they dismiss the case, making vulgar gestures at them in public places, videotaping and photographing them, and more — was previously booked in Gaston County jail on a charge of first-degree murder. He was let out on bond on Dec. 24. 2019, and has remained out of custody. His bond had been set at $1.5 million.

"The state believes that the defendant's dangerous actions will continue to escalate," the Aug. 6 motion reads. "The state has great concern for the safety of [Hunsucker's children] and Mr. and Mrs. Robinson."

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Per documents obtained by PEOPLE which were filed in Jan. 2020, Hunsucker, who was previously a paramedic with Atrium Health’s MedCenter Air, was also indicted on charges of insurance fraud and obtaining property by false pretenses over $100,000 charges following his wife's death. The document alleged that Hunsucker had his late wife's body cremated before filing for her $250,000 life insurance policy.

However, because she was an organ donor, a blood sample had been saved, which was taken to a lab for testing. This is where tetrahydrozoline was allegedly found in her blood.

"The allegation is he put quantities of this substance in her beverages over a period of time" leading to his late wife's death, states the document.

Hunsucker had also been out on bond after being charged with burning personal property "for an incident that occurred on Nov. 26, 2019 in Mecklenburg County," the Aug. 6 motion states. "The Defendant is alleged to have set fire to a medical helicopter while he was working as a paramedic. This resulted in an emergency landing being made by the pilot in the vicinity of Independence Blvd."

"This action could have resulted in serious injury or death to any number of civilians in the vicinity," the motion adds. Hunsucker was indicted by the Grand Jury in Mecklenburg County for that alleged offense on Sept. 7, 2021. The case remains pending, per the document.

Hunsucker's attorney, David Teddy, didn't immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE on Aug. 8 regarding the latest charges the suspect is facing. It's not clear if he has entered pleas to any of the new charges he faces.