Justice delayed: 5 years after Longview hospital stabbings, trial in sight

Published 1:00 am Sunday, November 25, 2018

From Karen Bobo’s perspective, “the justice system has not been kind” in the five years since two people were stabbed to death and she and two more were injured at a Longview hospital facility.

A March date has been set for the capital murder trial of Kyron Rayshawn Templeton, 27, who is accused in the Nov. 26, 2013, attack in the Ambulatory Surgical Center at then-Good Shepherd Medical Center.

The deaths of nurse Gail Sandidge, 57, and 82-year-old visitor Harris Teel rocked the Good Shepherd family and stunned the city. The case was so prominent that 124th District Judge Alfonso Charles issued a gag order when Templeton was arraigned on murder and assault charges a day after the killings.

Bobo, a nurse, and visitors Melissa Simms and Teresa Allen also were wounded in the morning stabbings that brought police to the fourth-floor surgical center in Medical Plaza I before 7 a.m. Bobo and Allison were treated and released from the emergency room, while Simms was admitted for a short stay.

Bobo, in response to a Facebook request for comment, observed the gag order but provided her feelings about the case — and for the five-year wait for justice.

“At this time, of course you know, there is a trial pending in March 2019,” Bobo wrote. “With that in mind, I cannot discuss details of that day. I will say the events of that day forever changed numerous lives. The justice system has not been kind to the Sandidge and Teel families or to any of the rest of us for having to wait over five years to see some kind of justice for their family members who were brutally attacked and murdered that day.”

Templeton, of Longview, has been jailed since his arraignment on $2.5 million bond attached to both capital murder and all three aggravated assault charges. He faces the possibility of the death penalty if convicted.

Investigators have said Templeton was at the facility for his mother’s surgery that morning. The police officer who arrested Templeton wrote in an arrest report that the suspect told him that “they” were trying to kill his mother.

“Prayers and thoughts during the upcoming months and through the trial will be greatly appreciated,” Bobo wrote. “Events like this never leave you the same. You just try to adjust to the new normal. I have many other thoughts which cannot be discussed at this time. … I still talk to people who can’t believe after five years he hasn’t been tried. I myself would like to know why. Perhaps you could ask the sitting DA that question.”

Meanwhile, Templeton has filed a subpoena for an odd piece of evidence relating to incoming Gregg County District Attorney Tom Watson. The defendant asked transcripts of “ …any calls or messages, also known as ‘robo calls,’ call logs and lists of numbers called, any statistical information of said calls, made in regards (sic) to the campaign of Gregg County District Attorney Tom Watson for the March 6, 2018, primary.”

The target of the subpoena is Ferrell Marketing & Public Relations in Tyler. That presumably is a firm Watson used in his bid for office, but Watson also was not able to give a theory on the subpoena without violating a gag order.

The gag order prevented District Attorney Carl Dorrough from commenting on the case. But he said he has appointed April Sikes to lead the prosecution next year.

A 15-year prosecutor in Smith County, Sikes was named this month by Watson to replace Chief Prosecutor Stacey Brownlee, who had the case but went into private practice in May after Watson beat Dorrough in March’s GOP primary.

The court docket for the case, which is the judge’s record of all events since Templeton’s arraignment, does not clearly indicate all causes for delay in getting to trial, listing seven criminal docket status dates from March 2014 to August 2015.

The monthly status docket is when judges confer with lawyers on both sides in an effort to set a trial date.

The record then jumps to June 2016, when the state was granted a psychological evaluation of the defendant’s competency to stand trial.

That report was given to the court Jan. 3, 2017, but three months later, Templeton told Charles that he was firing his court-appointed attorneys, Kevin Settle and Jason Cassel.

Templeton told Charles he was hiring someone named David Beckham, though no one in court knew an attorney with the famous soccer star’s name, and Templeton did not know where he practices law.

Charles told Templeton he was free to hire counsel but that Settle and Cassel would remain his defenders until he did. The judge also set potential trial dates in September and October 2017.

A competency hearing was conducted before those hearings occurred, and on Aug. 8, 2017, Charles accepted an agreement by both sides that Templeton was incompetent.

That finding prevented a trial. It also included an order that Templeton be placed under the care of a psychiatrist who would prescribe psychotropic medicines to “begin the competency restoration process in the jail,” the docket says.

In October 2017, Charles granted Templeton a trial delay, writing in the docket that he had no choice because Templeton had not undergone a “competency restoration program” to go along with the drugs he was prescribed.

Two months later, Charles noted Templeton was “still awaiting transfer to Vernon State Hospital” and reset Templeton’s next status docket appearance for this month.

He was declared mentally fit for trial Nov. 9. Charles set a March 18 trial date two days after the competency declaration. He is set for another status docket appearance on Jan. 11, 2019.

Jennifer Ware, Director of Marketing & Communications for Christus Good Shepherd Health System, which has purchased Good Shepherd since the murders, issued the following statement on the murders and their aftermath at the hospital:

 “The heartbreaking events of November 2013 made a tremendous impact on everyone at Christus Good Shepherd Health System and across East Texas. Though time has passed, our compassion and concern for the victims and their families remains steadfast. The strength and courage they have shown remains an inspiration to us all and reveals the true courage and character of this community.

“After the incident, Christus Good Shepherd Health System began an extensive review of security practices for patients and staff, both internally and with the assistance of outside experts. Changes were made throughout the system to increase our security presence, implement facility modifications and control of access, all with the objective of providing the safest possible environment for our patients, visitors and staff.

“Though the tragic events of that day cannot be undone, Christus Good Shepherd Health System remains focused on extending the healing ministry of Jesus Christ to this community by providing high-quality, compassionate care to all those we serve. We will be forever inspired by the heroic actions of Gail Sandidge and outpouring of love and support shown in response. Everyone at Christus Good Shepherd Health System will continue to offer our prayers and support for the victims of this senseless crime, as we take the next step in the healing process alongside our community.”