Prosecutor Chris Gatewood said that Davis did not tell the other nurses what happened and stood by as others responded to help Kalina. Scans later showed air in the brain, with Kalina dying two years after from brain damage.

Gatewood said similar incidents were found with Lafferty, Clark and Greenwood and dismissed the suggestion of stroke-like events as “red herrings” and attempts to misdirect the jury. He said that Davis lied about why he was in the rooms of each patient and was the only nurse on the floor at the time that each one experienced complications. He told the jury that Davis “liked to kill people,” while Smith County District Attorney Jacob Putman maintained that the hospital did not change any of its procedures, according to KLTV. “With the facts that we have, with the evidence that we have, a serial killer being in the hospital is the only thing that makes sense,” said Gatewood.


Hayes accused one of the state witnesses, Teresa Meeks, clinical director at cardiovascular ICU, of misleading the jury and trying to hide evidence related to the timeline of Kalina’s neurological event.

Davis’ nursing license was suspended in March 2018, and he was arrested that April on bonds totaling $8.75 million and indicted on charges of capital murder, murder and five counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He initially pleaded not guilty when the trial began in September but opted not to take the stand Monday. His wife and two children were present at the trial.

While Hayes acknowledged that Davis lied to hospital executives about events, he refuted the suggestion that Davis murdered any patients. “If they want to charge him with being dishonest, okay, we’ll deal with that issue. But being dishonest does not make you a murderer, it does not make you a killer or a serial killer.”

The jury will hear more testimony at sentencing and decide between giving Davis life in prison or the death penalty.

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