Gaston County man accused of killing wife with eye drops appears in court

GASTON COUNTY, N.C. (FOX 46 CHARLOTTE) – A former flight paramedic accused of poisoning his wife with Visine eye drops was back in court on Tuesday.

Joshua Hunsucker is awaiting trial on murder charges and recently picked up a new arson case from an unrelated matter. FOX 46 was in the courtroom on Tuesday, July 6, for his status conference.

After the judge took the bench Tuesday, he immediately called the lawyers into his Chambers without noting the defendant’s presence in the courtroom.

Everyone in the courtroom waited for about 30 minutes before the lawyers and the judge emerged. No additional information or details were given and the case was adjourned. No new court date was announced.

FOX 46 reviewed the case file and numerous experts are expected to testify for the prosecution and defense. 

Hunsucker, who collected $250,000 in insurance money upon his wife’s 2018 death, has been accused of fatally poisoning her with eye drops. Stacy Hunsucker’s death had been ruled a heart attack in 2018. She was 32 and the mother of two young children when she died.

Hunsucker, who used to be a paramedic with Atrium Health’s MedCenter Air, was charged with her murder nearly one year later in Dec. 2019. Hunsucker was accused by a prosecutor of poisoning his wife with Visine. A blood test “detected very high levels of tetrahydrozoline which is one of the active ingredients in certain eye drops,” prosecutor Jordan Green had said in court. High levels of tetrahydrozoline in the body can cause heart stoppages.

Stay tuned for updates as soon as a new court date is released.