Davis

A Christus Trinity Mother Frances employee testified Monday she noticed inconsistencies in former nurse William George Davis’ recollection of events concerning a patient who had complications leading to brain damage and eventual death.

Davis, 37, of Hallsville, is accused of introducing air into patients’ arterial systems while he was a nurse at Christus Trinity Mother Frances Louis and Peaches Owen Heart Hospital in Tyler, causing their deaths, according to 2018 and 2021 indictments.

He is charged with capital murder of multiple people in connection with the deaths of John Lafferty, Ronald Clark, Christopher Greenaway and Joseph Kalina. His trial began last Tuesday.

Deb Chelette, vice president of operations and cardiac services for Christus Trinity Mother Frances Louis and Peaches Owen Heart Hospital, returned to the witness stand Monday testifying about security footage, phone calls and meetings with Davis in 2018.

During her testimony, Chelette said she noticed inconsistencies between Davis’ stories about what happened to Kalina, who was recovering from surgery at the Cardiovascular ICU in the early morning hours of Jan. 25, 2018.

Kalina had a profound neurological event around 1 a.m. that caused brain damage, and he died two years later. Scans showed air inside his brain.

Chelette said she learned what happened to Kalina on the morning of Jan. 25, 2018. She saw Davis entering Kalina’s room and leaving the room. Based on the security video, she noticed he was the last person to see Kalina doing well.

She testified a nurse would be expected to tell people what they saw, especially if he was the last to see Kalina in normal condition, but that didn’t happen.

Chelette told the jury the video showed Davis come to help Kalina and other nurses five minutes after the complications began. She noted five minutes could be the difference between someone living or dying.

After spending all day watching the video, Chelette said she contacted Jason Proctor, president of Christus Mother Frances Hospitals in Tyler and the Christus Trinity Mother Frances Louis and Peaches Owen Heart Hospital in Tyler, and Chris Glenney, senior vice president of group operations for Christus Health and CEO for Christus Health Northeast Texas.

“I was concerned enough to know that I had a gut feeling. That told me something was wrong from a nursing practice perspective,” Chelette said.

She said she didn’t want something to happen to another patient and noted Davis was on the upcoming night shift.

Chelette said Proctor requested Davis be removed from the hospital floor immediately and that they meet with Davis.

In the meeting about Kalina, Chelette testified Davis said he went into the room to silence an IV pump. He told Chelette and Proctor he thought it would be helpful to a colleague and didn’t think it was important to tell anyone.

Davis was then placed on suspension with pay while hospital officials investigated what happened.

The state presented recordings of phone calls between her and Davis. During those calls, Davis said he is a nurse who works hard for his patients’ care.

Chelette said an investigation of that nature is handled between the hospital leader, associate and human resources.

During one of the calls, Davis said there appeared to be blood in Kalina’s arterial line and he attempted to flush the line. Chelette asked him to send a summary of the previous meeting, phone calls and his recollection of events.

In the email, Davis said he was there to help Kalina immediately but the video shows he was not, Chelette said.

In his email, he said Kalina complained of an IV line bothering him but Davis said he learned it was the arterial line. Davis said he noticed blood in the line and attempted to flush it a few times.

Davis wrote in his email that he didn’t know if he caused Kalina’s complications or not, but said he would never intentionally hurt someone.

Chelette testified even if what happened was a mistake Davis should’ve told someone what happened with Kalina.

A recording of a meeting with Proctor, Davis and Chelette was presented to the jury in which Davis recounted his interaction with Kalina on Jan. 25, 2018.

Davis reported again Kalina’s arterial line was bothering him and he flushed out the line to help his coworkers. He also checked if the arterial line bag’s pressure could be low.

Chelette testified Kalina was wearing a BiPAP mask, which would make speaking difficult. Davis said in the meeting he went to the room before Kalina’s decline because he heard an IV beeping.

Chelette agreed the information from the meeting was inconsistent with the hospital security video. Davis told Proctor and Chelette in the meeting that he responded as Kalina’s condition declined.

Davis told Proctor and Chelette it was a “dumb thing” to not have told someone about his visit to Kalina’s room.

Davis asked in the meeting how Kalina was doing and said he was glad to hear Kalina was awake at the time.

Lacy Simpson, a cardiovascular ICU nurse who worked with Davis, testified she was one of the nurses who responded to help when Kalina was “crashing.”

Simpson said when the alarm went off, she saw Kalina was unresponsive with a low heart rate in his hospital room.

Davis was not in the room when several nurses came to help Kalina, Simpson said. She also noted the arterial line’s bag usually stays pressurized throughout the day of surgery and into the next day.