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Published 15:56 22 Jun 2026 GMT
A nurse was brutally shot and killed while walking to her vehicle after a shift at DCH Regional Medical Center, Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Ada Doss was on the phone with her husband, Andrew, speaking about their days at work and planning dinner for their children, six-month-old and two-year-old daughters.
The 27-year-old was then reportedly gunned down by suspect Matthew James Taylor, 41, on May 12.
Her husband could reportedly hear the mother of his children begging for her life before she was approached by the gunman.
He recalled hearing her voice, which was "filled with panic as Taylor approached her armed with a gun," as he detailed in a wrongful death suit.
Andrew filed the suit on Wednesday against both Taylor and DCH Regional Medical Center.
Andrew recalled his wife's gut-wrenching final words: "Please don't, I have babies," just seconds before she was shot and killed, according to the lawsuit.
Ada's widowed husband is now seeking compensatory and punitive damages to be awarded at a jury trial following her death.
He claimed that she was transported to the hospital that day by an individual warning of his "manic and erratic behavior," but security at the hospital "failed to assess the security threat and to locate Taylor."
It is also claimed that the suspect was able to allegedly leave the hospital's emergency room entrance and even "roam freely" while undetected for hours, despite being "shirtless, shoeless and armed."
According to authorities, Taylor was dropped off at the hospital earlier in the day, though he never entered the building, instead loitering the campus for a couple of hours.
They say that he tried to rob another woman in the afternoon by waving a handgun at her and telling her to get out of her car.
She managed to get away, but a shortly afterwards, police said Taylor approached Ada when she was walking to the car, pointing the fun at her and demanding her keys, report AL.com.
Ada continued to walk to her car, even as Taylor followed her with the gun, but once they reached the car, Taylor shot the nurse once.
She would die at the scene, while Taylor allegedly went through her belongings and went into her car, as police stated that the suspect was showing signs of mental illness.
Hours earlier, a woman had even told staff that there was a man outside who needed help, but when nurses went out, he was already walking away.
Security was told about the man, but they could not find him, and there was no evidence that he posed a threat.
Staff noted that Taylor didn't appear on DCH's security surveillance for the two-hour period it was claimed he was on hospital property.
They said: "He reappeared on our cameras near the outer edge of our property approximately 40 minutes before the crime, but his appearance was indistinguishable from that of any other visitor."
Minutes before Taylor fired at the nurse, the staff saw that he had taken his shirt off and that his behavior had changed, resulting in calls to security and law enforcement.
Now, the suspect is facing capital murder, first-degree robbery and illegal possession of a firearm charges, and is being forcibly medicated while behind bars, as per WTVM.
Hospital employees had long been calling for increased safety protocols in their parking lot, as a former employee claimed: "I feel as though they should put like a security booth out there."
The publication said that Tuscaloosa Police dealt with a separate robbery incident at the same hospital, a week before the nurse's death.
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Published 12:25 08 Jun 2023 GMT
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A 76-year-old woman who allegedly fatally shot her terminally ill husband has been charged with first-degree murder, reports The Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Ellen Gilland, who allegedly carried out the shooting at AdventHealth hospital in Daytona Beach on Saturday morning, was also charged with three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. She is currently being held without bond at the Volusia County Jail.
Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, Daytona Beach Police Chief Jakari Young said it is believed Ellen and her 77-year-old husband planned the shooting "approximately three weeks ago."
Jerry reportedly intended to pull the trigger himself, but "did not have the strength" and so she had to "carry it out for him."
Daytona Beach Police Chief Jakari E. Young said Gilland had planned to turn the gun on herself after ending her husband's life as part of a murder-suicide, but "she couldn't go through with it."
He added: "Apparently because he was terminally ill, they had a conversation about it and they actually planned this approximately three weeks ago that if he continued to take a turn for the worst that he wanted her to end this.
"Obviously, we're unsure how she brought that gun into the hospital, but this was planned."
A police report released on Monday stated that authorities spoke with three witnesses who said they had seen Gilland behind her husband's bed as she pointed the gun at the door.
According to Young, Gilland did not threaten to open fire on anyone else, however, she refused to put the weapon down when officers arrived at the scene.
"It's a tragic circumstance because it just shows that none of us are immune from the trials and tribulations of life," Young added. "Even after the initial shooting, she never tried to get up and leave, so everything was confined to the room."
The widow reportedly kept the .38 revolver pointed at the door as she talked with police outside. Police were at the scene for around three and a half hours.
The police report states that at about 3:00 PM, SWAT teams deployed a flash-bang distraction device into the room. Upon entering the room, police tased Gilland, who then fired her gun, shooting the ceiling.
Gilland then dropped the gun and "SWAT members detained the defendant without further incident," according to the report.
Young said it was unclear how Gilland managed to enter the hospital with the gun.
In a statement to The News-Journal, David Breen, spokesman for AdventHealth Daytona Beach, said: "We are devastated by the tragedy that unfolded at the AdventHealth Daytona Beach campus today, and our prayers are with those impacted.
Breen added: "We are grateful for the Daytona Beach Police Department in helping ensure the safety of our patients, team members and visitors."
He said AdventHealth would not provide any further comment at this time "as the case remains an active police investigation."
A woman who received a desperate text from her husband that signaled that he was held hostage reportedly found his dead body before the police.
On June 2, a man named Qualin Campbell was found dead in Colorado Springs following another emergency call just after 2:00 PM that reported the discovery of two unconscious people who may have been shot in a car, as reported by the Colorado Springs Indy.
Federal civil rights attorney Harry Daniels said that the 32-year-old man was taken hostage and then murdered within a mile of the Colorado Springs Police Department HQ.
His widow Talija Campbell, who is also represented by Daniels, received an alarming text that showed a picture of an unidentified man sitting next to her husband in his car. Alongside the picture, he sent alarming messages that read "911" and "Send Please!"
Talija was stunned by the text and responded: "What's wrong! What do you need me to do? Send me your location again" - before reportedly calling the police. She claimed that authorities "failed to respond to the 911 call that could have saved his life," according to Too Fab.
The widow spoke with AP News about the heartbreaking incident and alleged that she called the authorities just after 1:00 PM and told the dispatcher that she believed Qualin was being held hostage. She then sent his location and described his car.
Talija reiterated all that information to a second dispatcher who allegedly informed her they would check it out. But, she felt there was "no sense of urgency," around her call, so she went to her husband's location herself.
"I shouldn't have been the one there, the first person to respond," she devastatingly told the publication. After arriving at the scene, she immediately spotted his vehicle and tragically found him slumped inside next to another unidentified man.
Talija then said that her husband's uncle contacted law enforcement again to report the shooting death. A police blotter confirms that the officials were sent to the scene at 2:09 PM to investigate and discovered two deceased males at the location, per People.
Qualin's lawyer noted in a release: "No law officers came until Campbell was found dead having bled out from a gunshot to the abdomen roughly an hour later.
"The Colorado Springs Police Department and El Paso County can make all the excuses they want, but the facts are simple: This was a hostage situation where Qualin Campbell was begging for his life, his wife called 911, the police were less than a mile away but they never responded," he said. "Let's be clear. If the police don't respond to a hostage situation, none of us are safe."
Police spokesman Robert Tornabene was asked about the police response to Talija's 911 call and said that he couldn’t comment because there was an "open and active criminal investigation" into the deaths, according to the publication.
The widow has started a GoFundMe page to raise funds for her family, which includes her two daughters. So far, $4,165 has been raised from the $30,000 target.
On the page, she wrote: "Qualin was a loving husband, dedicated father, son, brother, and employee. Tragically, Qualin Campbell lost his life in a senseless act of violence.
"Talija and Qualin share a beautiful love story and were married seven years. She and their two daughters relied on Qualin to provide for the family. His family are having to cope with the untimely and unexpected death of their husband, father, and provider."
She penned that Qualin was "very active in his community," and remembered him as being "selfless" and having a "commitment to serving others" which was "unmatched".
"Qualin's family is devastated and will have to pull together to face this tragedy and deal with the emotional, physical, and financial effects from him [being] unexpectedly taken from them," she concluded.
Our thoughts are with Qualin's family and friends at this tragic time.
A nurse who stepped in to help those injured in a mass shooting at an Arkansas grocery store is revealed to have died in the attack.
On Friday, June 21, a gunman opened fire at the Mad Butcher grocery in Fordyce, around 70 miles south of Little Rock.
He opened fire in the store with a shotgun, killing four people and wounding nine.
It has now been revealed that 23-year-old Callie Weems, a nurse who'd been trying to help those affected, is one of those killed in the atrocity.
Police revealed on Sunday (June 23) that Weems had bravely stepped in to help another of the victims, despite it putting herself in danger, too.
Colonel Mike Hagar, director of the Arkansas State police, said in a press conference: "Instead of fleeing the store, she stopped to render aid in one of the most selfless acts I've ever seen."
Weems had come from three generations of nurses and was an avid horserider.
Her father, Tommy Weems, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that her nickname was "Woodrow", after the character Woodrow Call from the book and TV series Lonesome Dove.
Her father told the outlet: "She died doing what she always does: Helping."
A GoFundMe has been set up in the wake of Weems' death, in which it was revealed that she was also a mother to a 10-month-old daughter.
Investigators are yet to determine a motive for the attack, which happened in a town of just 3,200 people, naming it a "completely random, senseless act."
Hagar added that the shooter, who was armed with a 12-gauge shotgun and a pistol, began firing indiscriminately in the parking lot of the store, before moving inside.
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He revealed: "During the incident, we observed the very best and the very worst of humanity," as he praised six responding officers who put themselves between the shooter and civilians.
Two officers were also revealed to have been wounded in the incident.
The deceased have been identified as Weems, 23, Shirley Taylor, 62, Roy Sturgis, 50, and Ellen Shrum, 81. The surviving victims who were injured in the attack range from 20 to 65 years old.
The suspect, named as 44-year-old Travis Eugene Posey, was also wounded in a shootout with police, and will be charged with four counts of capital murder.
Published 16:27 11 Jul 2024 GMT
Published 20:01 09 Jun 2023 GMT
A clerk in a gas station messaged her friends fearing for her safety while she was working the night shift, and she tragically lost her life an hour later.
Tava Woodard, 23, began her shift at Roadrunner Market in Johnson City, Tenn, at around midnight after being dropped off by her friend, as reported by PEOPLE.
The shift on June 2 got off to an unnerving start as the store was hit by petty shoplifters and she texted her mom and friends that she felt unsafe and wanted to find a new job.
Shortly after, two men entered the store and demanded to have the money from the cash register. Woodard complied with their demands, but then the men allegedly proceeded to murder her.
Her mother Melissa Jones, 45, spoke to PEOPLE, saying: "From what I’m hearing none of them [the staff] were feeling very safe - this is all over the place so I’ll go ahead and say it. All of her coworkers have stated that the panic button under the counter wasn’t working - and wasn’t even hooked up."
Authorities revealed that a father and son were arrested on Tuesday in connection with her death, after entering the store "covered head to toe" and ultimately murdering the 23-year-old.
"I won’t get into specifics, but the police have told me that she was very calm, very composed and that they were amazed at hearing how old she was and how well she maintained her composure and calmness," Jones added.
Woodard had turned 23 just a week before she was killed, and following her death the community in the Appalachian mountains have rushed to support the family.
Jones said: "I’ve gotten so many messages and phone calls from people that cared about her, that talk about how wonderful she was and what a bright light she was for them."
She revealed that her daughter "always had a smile on her face" and that she was a comforting presence to be around.
Woodard was an outspoken activist for human rights and was highly supportive of her brother who has Asperger's Syndrome, always ensuring that he was safe at school and at home.
As reported by WJHL, Johnson City Police Chief Billy Church said: "In my almost 30 years of law enforcement experience, this case is one of the most heartbreaking that I’ve come across."
The accused killers have been named by Washington County Sheriff as 41-year-old Mark Anthony Sexton Jr and his 18-year-old son Mark Anthony Sexton III.
Both men were charged with first-degree murder, especially aggravated robbery while the father had driving an unregistered vehicle added onto his charges, and the 18-year-old had possible firearm commission of dangerous felony and tampering with evidence added on.
Following Woodard's death, a GoFundMe page has been set up in order to support her family and the funeral costs, which is set to take place on June 10.
Out of the intended $100,000 goal, $34,300 has been raised by 658 donors as people have flocked to offer their support following the devastating ordeal.
Our thoughts are with Woodard's family at this time.
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