Court affirms death sentence for Texas nurse who intentionally killed patients
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has officially affirmed the death sentence of a former cardiovascular intensive care unit (CVICU) nurse convicted of murdering multiple heart patients.
A Texas jury sentenced William George Davis to death in 2021 for intentionally murdering four patients and seriously injuring two additional patients. The patients were all recovering from various heart procedures at Christus Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler, Texas, when Davis deliberately injected large amounts of air into their arteries.
In its appeal, Davis’ legal team argued that several errors were made during his conviction and sentencing. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reviewed each alleged error, summarizing its thoughts in an official opinion.
For example, the defense team did not think “future dangerousness” had been properly proven due to the fact that Davis would not have access to the same medical equipment in the future. The court responded by stating that the jury had enough information to rationally believe Davis was a dangerous person. The defense team also claimed that no “physical force” had been used to commit the murders, limiting his “future dangerousness.” The court pushed back again, writing that physical force was certainly required to push air into the bodies of these patients.
“We affirm the trial court’s judgment of conviction and sentence of death,” the court concluded.
Additional details about the murders and trial
In each instance, the patient was on the path to recovery before Davis injected air into their arterial systems; they then suffered severe strokes, and follow-up medical imaging identified clear signs of brain damage.
At first, hospital staff could not explain these sudden deaths. Those follow-up images gave them their first clue, however, and then security camera footage confirmed that Davis had entered the room of one of the patients just minutes before their heart monitor went off.
These incidents all occurred in 2017 and 2018. Davis was arrested in April 2018.
During the 2021 trial, the legal team defending Davis argued that these deaths were accidental—that he had been attempting to keep them in the hospital longer so he could earn overtime pay. This argument did not appear to make any impact on the jury’s final decision.
Christus Mother Frances Hospital had already fired Davis once he was arrested.
“We hope the court’s decision and the conclusion of this trial will bring some peace to the families of the victims and to the victims who were irreparably harmed by Will Davis,” a spokesperson for the hospital told The New York Times at the time. “We will continue to pray for the peace and healing of the families, our associates and community and all involved.”
Nurse interviewed about murders for TV show
The first episode of The Lesson is Murder, a 2023 TV show about famous murder cases, focused on Davis and his story. In fact, Davis was interviewed for the show, describing the incidents in detail and saying the control he felt in those moments eventually became “an addiction.”
Click here for additional details.
Michael has more than 19 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.