Nurse indicted for murder, aggravated assault of patients at Texas heart hospital

TYLER, TX (KLTV) - A nurse who was charged with murder has now been indicted by a Smith County grand jury.

William George Davis, 34 was indicted June 21 for murder and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to Smith County judicial records. Davis was originally charged with murder.

The charges stem from allegations that Davis caused death or harm by intentionally introducing air into the arterial systems of patients, Smith County District Attorney Matt Bingham said Tuesday.

Bingham said the court will now set a scheduling order and the discovery will be turned over to the defense. Pre-trial hearings will also be set.

Melvin Thompson has been appointed as Davis' lawyer, Bingham said.

Davis was arrested back in April after a lengthy investigation. Bingham said hospital officials alerted his office and law enforcement and they've remained compliant throughout the investigation.

MORE: +Multiple lawsuits in the works against nurse charged with murder, Tyler hospital +Arrest affidavit alleges Tyler, TX nurse purposely introduced air into patients' arterial lines

Davis, who was a registered nurse at CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler, is accused of tampering with multiple patients at the Louis and Peaches Owen Heart Hospital in Tyler. Davis allegedly injected air into the arterial lines of at least seven patients at the hospital, officials say. Two of those patients died and two others were left in a vegetative state.

An arrest affidavit alleged officials discovered disturbances in patients' arterial line waveforms matched up with his presence in the hospital room. An arterial line is a thin catheter inserted into an artery.

A radiologist also reviewed the cases and found that there was air in the patients' brains where there should be none.

" ... preliminary conclusion found air was deliberately introduced into the arterial circulating using the patient's arterial lines," the affidavit stated.

The Texas Board of Nursing suspended Davis' license in March and revoked his license in April.

In April, an attorney for three patients notified the hospital of their intent to file lawsuits. The attorney has since received medical records for the patients and is reviewing the documents before further taking legal action.

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