The Tyler nurse who allegedly injected air into patients’ arterial lines with serious or fatal results has been indicted by a grand jury on capital murder and three aggravated assault charges.
William George Davis has now been indicted on a total of seven charges: five counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, one for murder, and one for capital murder. The capital murder charge—which is punishable by the death penalty—relates to murder of multiple persons, according to the online record of the case.
Police said when they first announced the arrest that they were investigating seven different incidents from June 2017 to Jan. 2018, including two incidents in which the victim died. Davis, 34, was working at Christus Mother Frances Hospital – Tyler at the time, assigned to the Louis and Peaches Owen Heart Hospital. He was pulled from patient care on Jan. 25 and fired on Feb. 15. His nursing license was revoked in March, and he was arrested on April 10.
The initial murder charge related to 47-year-old Christopher Greenaway, who died of an ischemic stroke caused by an air embolism, according to an autopsy.
Police say Davis caused the air embolism in Greenaway by using a syringe to inject air into his arterial line. According to an affidavit, police have security footage of Davis entering victims’ rooms late at night or early in the morning, shortly before the patients suffered stroke-like symptoms.
Irving-based Christus Health says it is working with Tyler PD to review patient files dating back to the beginning of Davis’ employment five years ago, but that a protective order prevents the system from sharing information regarding that review. Christus has set up a landing page for its various statements on the investigation.
The grand jury indictments landed two weeks ago and were first reported by the Tyler Morning Telegraph.
