William George Davis (“Appellant”) was a cardiovascular intensive care unit (CVICU) nurse at Christus Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler, Texas. At the guilt phase of Appellant’s capital murder trial, the evidence showed that, from January 2017 through January 2018, Appellant intentionally or knowingly caused the deaths of four post-operative CVICU patients (Greenaway, Lafferty, Clark, and Kalina) and seriously injured two more (Jesus Serrano and Pamela Henderson). He did so by deliberately injecting large amounts of air into the patients’ arteries.
Each of the victims had been progressing well following their respective surgical procedures before they suddenly and unexpectedly suffered severe, seemingly inexplicable overnight strokes. Medical imaging showed that the victims presented the same “abnormal” and “unique” pattern of brain damage. Eventually, doctors traced this distinctive pattern back to a common cause: the intentional injection of air into the patients’ arterial systems. The evidence showed that each of the victims had been fitted with an “arterial line”—a small catheter placed in the victims’ radial arteries, located in the victims’ wrists, which allowed medical staff to monitor the victims’ vital signs during and after surgery.
Appellant was not formally assigned to any of the victims’ post-operative care. But of all the CVICU night-shift nurses working at the hospital during the relevant time period, Appellant was the only nurse whose shifts coincided with all
of the victims’ sudden downturns or “crash[es].” Appellant was also directly linked to each victim’s crash. In Greenaway’s case, Appellant had temporarily assumed care of Greenaway when his assigned CVICU night-shift nurse, Ben Rasberry, took a meal break. In the twenty-to-thirty minutes in which Rasberry was away, Greenaway suffered a stroke. In Lafferty’s case, Appellant had temporarily assumed care of Lafferty when Lafferty’s assigned CVICU nurse briefly stepped out of the room. In Clark’s case, Appellant had been assigned to the care of patients in the rooms next to Clark’s.
In Serrano’s case, as Serrano was crashing, Appellant directed another caregiver to remove a syringe Appellant had attached to Serrano’s arterial line, because Serrano’s surgeon, who was en route to the patient’s room, “would be
looking for it.” In Henderson’s case, when Henderson’s assigned CVICU nurse ran into her room to stabilize her as she began to crash, the nurse witnessed Appellant “already in the room at [Henderson’s] bedside.” Finally, in Kalina’s
case, surveillance footage showed Appellant entering Kalina’s room with an empty syringe moments before Kalina began to crash. After leaving Kalina’s room, Appellant watched from down the hall as other medical staff rushed to Kalina’s room to save him.
In October 2021, a Smith County jury convicted Appellant of capital murder for murdering Christopher Greenaway and one or more of John Lafferty, Ronald Clark, and Joseph Kalina during different criminal transactions but pursuant to the same scheme or course of conduct. TEX. PENAL CODE § 19.03(a)(7)(B). At punishment, the State presented evidence from which the jury could rationally deduce that Appellant caused the deaths of three additional CVICU patients (James Blanks, James Sanders, and Perry Frank) and seriously injured three more (Gary Parker, James Wages, and Rickie Glenn). Each of these incidents occurred within the same period of time covered in the guilt phase—January 2017 through January 2018. Based on the jury’s answers to the special issues set forth in Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 37.071, Sections 2(b) and 2(e), the trial court sentenced Appellant to death.
The Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas stated in its March 12, 2026 Opinion that it “affirm[ed] the trial court’s judgment of conviction and sentence of death.”
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