An indictment against a 34-year-old nurse who worked at Christus Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler details accusations of murder and assault. Investigators have attributed the deaths of two patients to the nurse and also charged him with two aggravated assaults. According to the indictment, he injected air into the arterial catheters of seven patients. These allegedly intentional acts killed two people and induced vegetative states in two more patients.
The problems began at the hospital in November 2017 and occurred again January 2018. The police report said that he had not been assigned to the care of the patients. When hospital administrators questioned him in January, he said that he pumped up a pressure bag and quieted a beeping IV machine.
An affidavit revealed that the police saw the nurse on hospital security camera footage as he entered the rooms of three patients. The patients experienced serious problems shortly after he left their hospital rooms. Local police arrested him in April, and his charges include capital murder. He awaits his trial at the Smith County Jail under multiple bonds that total $4 million.
A person facing homicide charges or accusations of other violent crimes might want the guidance of an attorney. Anyone facing criminal charges has the right to legal representation, and an attorney could take steps to protect a person’s rights. Evidence that appears questionable could be challenged by an attorney and potentially removed from the case. This effort might produce a reduction in the severity of charges or enable an attorney to cast doubt on the whole case during a trial.
Source: FOX News, “Texas nurse accused in patient deaths, leaving others in vegetative states charged with capital murder“, Travis Fedschun, Sept. 3, 2018
