A nurse was shot and killed in a hospital parking lot after finishing her shift. Her husband heard everything on the phone, including her final, desperate plea to the killer.
Ada Doss, 27, was walking to her car at DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa, Alabama on May 12 when she was approached by Matthew James Taylor, 41, who demanded her keys at gunpoint.
At the time, Doss was on the phone with her husband Andrew, the couple talking about their days and planning dinner for their two young daughters, aged six months and two years old.
Doss’s final plea
According to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Andrew against both Taylor and the hospital this week, his wife’s voice turned to panic as the gunman approached her.
Her final words, as Andrew recalled in the lawsuit, were: “Please don’t, I have babies.”
She was shot once and died at the scene. Taylor allegedly went through her belongings and got into her car afterward. Authorities said he was showing signs of mental illness at the time.
Taylor is now facing charges of capital murder, first-degree robbery and illegal possession of a firearm. He is currently being forcibly medicated while in custody.
Hospital knew there was a threat
The lawsuit claims DCH Regional Medical Center failed to act on multiple warnings about Taylor in the hours before the shooting.
Taylor had been dropped off at the hospital earlier that day by someone who warned staff about his “manic and erratic behavior.”
He never entered the building but spent hours on hospital grounds, shirtless and shoeless. Despite this, security failed to locate him, and he reportedly did not appear on surveillance cameras for a two-hour stretch.
A woman had also alerted staff that a man outside needed help, but by the time nurses went to check, he had already walked away. Security was notified but said they found no evidence of a threat at that point.
Minutes before the shooting, staff noticed Taylor had removed his shirt and his behavior had changed, prompting calls to both security and law enforcement.
Staff had been calling for better security
The attack has reignited concerns among hospital employees about safety in the parking lot. A former staff member told local media:
“I feel as though they should put like a security booth out there.”
Tuscaloosa Police had also responded to a separate robbery incident at the same hospital just one week before Doss was killed.
Andrew is now seeking compensatory and punitive damages at a jury trial.
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