A former nursing-home employee has been charged with stealing pain-relieving morphine from two elderly patients for her own use.

Erica A. Bay, 29, Lawrence, was booked into the Douglas County Jail Monday following an investigation into claims she took morphine intended for the patients of Pioneer Ridge Retirement Community.

Police said she stole the morphine by taking patches off residents’ skin, squeezing morphine compound from the patches, and putting them back on the residents – making it appear as though the victims were still receiving the medication.

The victims were a 79-year-old woman and a dying 96-year-old man, according to police. The alleged crimes happened between Jan. 7 and Jan. 28 at Pioneer Ridge, 4851 Harvard Road.

The 96-year-old man died shortly afterward, but a nursing-home manager said at the time it was unrelated to the alleged thefts. The manager, Lee Eaton, also said the suspect had worked at the home less than six months and that “no resident experienced any pain or experienced any adverse affects.”

Dist. Atty. Charles Branson said he couldn’t speculate about how much, if any, pain the residents endured.

“That’s going to be a medical opinion I’m not capable of giving by myself,” he said.

Bay is charged with theft and mistreatment of a dependent adult by withholding necessary treatment, both misdemeanors. She was released on bond Monday and ordered to appear in District Court Aug. 2.