Texas nurse convicted of capital murder in the deaths of 4 patients who died after prosecutors say he injected them with air following heart surgeries.
Prosecutors planned to seek the death penalty during the sentencing phase, which was scheduled to start Wednesday.into the four patients’ arteries after they underwent heart surgery at the Christus Trinity Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler in 2017 and 2018. During recovery from their surgeries, the four — John Lafferty, Ronald Clark, Christopher Greenway and Joseph Kalina — suffered unexplained neurological problems and died.During the trial, Dr.
Yarbrough said he was able to determine there was air in the arterial system of the victims’ brains by viewing images from brain scans — something he said he had never before observed in his decades in medicine. He ruled out blood pressure problems or any other causes of death besides the injection of air, and said it must have happened after the surgeries because the complications occurred while the patients were in recovery.
Defense attorney Phillip Hayes told the jury that the hospital had issues and that Davis was a scapegoat who was only charged because he was there when the deaths occurred. Prosecutor Chris Gatewood said during closing arguments that Davis “liked to kill people.” And prosecutor Jacob Putman said the hospital hadn’t changed any of its procedures and hadn’t had any similar incidents since Davis left.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Texas nurse convicted of killing 4 men with air injectionsThe Smith County jury deliberated for about an hour before finding William George Davis guilty of capital murder involving multiple victims.
Read more »
Latino groups sue over Texas redistrictingThe Latino population in Texas grew by 1.98 million, while the white population grew by just 187,252. Latinos are on track to outnumber whites by the end of the year or early next year, and they are at near-parity with the white population in Texas.
Read more »
Texas refinery workers overwhelmingly reject Exxon contract offerUnion workers at Exxon Mobil Corp's Beaumont, Texas, oil refinery overwhelmingly rejected the company's six-year labor contract on Tuesday, extending a lengthy standoff over job assignments.
Read more »
Plane rolls off Texas runway, but all on board escape fiery crash21 people escape without serious injuries after the plane they were in crashed and burst into flames Tuesday morning near Houston, officials say.
Read more »
Opinion | It's no coincidence that Texas is passing its cruelest laws at the same timeKatelyn Burns: Republicans are using their devastating bills to pit trans people and feminists against one another — thus clearing the path for their own power agenda.
Read more »