Rachel Waters
Advocate for End-of-Life Patient, Family, and Caregiver Protections and Digital Creator
Rachel Waters made headlines in 2025 when she was indicted on two counts of murder following her mother’s hospice death in Columbia County, Georgia. Facing charges so severe that they carried the possibility of the death penalty, Rachel’s life was upended overnight.
Her journey began in 2020 as an only child caregiver to her mother, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and cancer (multiple myeloma). In July 2023, Rachel and her husband were urgently called down from New York City to Georgia after her mother was found nonresponsive and had been declared “actively dying” by hospice staff. Within hours of her mother’s death, Rachel learned that she had become a murder suspect.
By February 2025, she faced a high-profile indictment alleging that she administered “a lethal dose” of morphine to her mother while she was residing in a memory care facility.
In the US, caregivers such as Rachel are issued hospice comfort kits that contain small amounts of prescribed medications, including morphine, which are used to treat end-of-life symptoms such as pain, anxiety, and shortness of breath.
After additional records and evidence were presented to the state medical examiner and district attorney, all charges were dismissed in August 2025. Her legal ordeal and personal experience transformed Rachel into a passionate advocate for patients and families navigating end-of-life care. Today, Rachel educates others on how to protect themselves against wrongful accusations while pushing for caregiver protections at the state and federal levels so that other families and their loved ones are not left vulnerable.
“My case exposed that the barrier of simply being suspected of murder and charged by the state is vanishingly thin. People don’t realize how shockingly easy it is.” – Rachel Waters
Rachel grew up in Georgia and now lives in Sunnyside, Queens. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from Augusta State University and a master’s degree in international affairs from The New School in New York. A former nonprofit communications professional and published life sciences writer, Rachel spent more than a decade exploring the intersections of medicine and technology, human rights, and culture. When she’s not writing or speaking, Rachel can be found lifting heavy, testing the latest biometric gadget, or immersing herself in a good book or creative project.