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TYLER, Texas (TCD) – A former Texas nurse was convicted of capital murder on Tuesday for fatally injecting air into four patients after heart surgery.
According to the Tyler Morning Telegraph, after about an hour of deliberation and two weeks of testimony, a Smith County jury found William George Davis, 37, guilty.
The prosecution will demand the death penalty against him. He could also face life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The Tyler Morning Telegraph says Davis has been charged with injecting air into the arteries of four patients following heart surgery at Christus Trinity Mother Frances Louis and Peaches Owen Heart Hospital in 2018. The four victims – John Lafferty, Ronald Clark, Christopher Greenway and Joseph Kalina – all suffered from unexplained neurological conditions. problems and died.
KLTV-TV says Dallas-based pulmonologist Dr William Yarbrough told the jury that the patients’ fatal brain damage was “caused by the injection of air.”
Yarbourgh testified that the air injections took place after the surgeries because the complications occurred during the patient’s recovery.
According to the Tyler Morning TelegraphSmith County First Assistant District Attorney Chris Gatewood said that in the case of Kalina’s death, Davis was “pushing air into the arterial line” while in the room with the victim.
KLTV Reports Defense attorney Phillip Hayes told the jury the hospital was in trouble and Davis was just a scapegoat who was charged because he was present when the deaths took place.
During the pleadings, KLTV reports that Prosecutor Chris Gatewood said Davis “liked to kill people.”
Gatewood added, “With the facts we have, with the evidence we have, a serial killer being in hospital is the only thing that makes sense.”
The Tyler Morning Telegraph reports that Davis was fired from Christus Mother Frances Hospital on February 15, 2018 for unethical practices and that his nursing license was suspended weeks later.
Davis was said to have worked at Christus Mother Frances for five years before his arrest. Before starting there, he worked at Christus Good Shepherd Medical Center from 2011 to 2013.
He was taken to Smith County Jail on April 10, 2018 and charged with multiple counts of capital murder, according to Smith County Jail records.
The punishment phase of Davis’ trial began on Wednesday.
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