A nurse had just completed her shift at DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and was making her way to her vehicle in the car park while speaking to her husband on the phone, when a man confronted her with a firearm, according to a recently filed lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims that Ada Chapman Doss, 27, was audibly terrified during her telephone conversation with her husband when 41 year old Matthew Taylor allegedly shot and killed her in an attempted carjacking in May, as reported by WVTM 13 News. In a devastating turn of events, Doss's husband was on the line to hear his wife's final words before she was fatally shot.
"That afternoon, as she was walking to her vehicle located in the DCH South parking lot, and speaking to her husband by phone, Ada Doss' voice filled with fear and panic as Taylor approached her armed with a gun," the complaint read. "Tragically, Ada's husband, Andrew Doss, was forced to endure hearing his wife's last words of, 'please don't, I have babies,' seconds before Taylor shot and killed Ada."
A registered nurse at the Alabama hospital, Doss had finished her shift on 12 May 2026, and made her usual call to her husband as she headed to the car park. "As customary, she called her husband to discuss their respective work days, dinner plans and evening routines for their 6-month-old and two-year-old daughters," the lawsuit said.
The complaint stated that "Unbeknownst to" Doss, Taylor had arrived at the DCH Emergency Room entrance earlier that same day, brought by an individual who reported Taylor was "complaining of a manic episode."
"After being notified of Taylor's alleged manic and erratic behavior, Allied security personnel and DCH security personnel failed to assess the security threat and act to locate Taylor," according to the lawsuit.
The filing alleged that Taylor was "allowed" to depart from the emergency room entrance and "roam freely about the DCH campus unmonitored for hours."
The legal action asserts that hospital staff and security made no attempt to "locate and confront Taylor," despite him being "shirtless, shoeless and armed."
The source of the alleged weapon remains unknown.
The complaint, lodged by Andrew Doss against the DCH Health Care Authority, cites wrongful death and negligence on the part of the defendants. Doss's husband and estate are seeking both compensatory and punitive damages, as well as a jury trial.
In the wake of the car park shooting, Taylor was taken into custody, and on June 3, a grand jury indicted him on three counts, comprising capital murder, first-degree robbery, and unlawful firearm possession, NBC affiliate WVTM 13 reported. The capital murder charge relates to Doss's fatal shooting.
WVTM 13 also reported that Taylor faces a first-degree robbery charge for allegedly using a firearm to carjack another woman.
The third charge concerns Taylor's mental health condition, with the grand jury noting that he is legally barred from possessing a firearm due to being of "unsound mind," according to WVTM 13.
A civil case was filed in Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court on Taylor's behalf by his mother, Amanda Taylor, as WBRC 6 News reported. The legal document claims that Taylor arrived at DCH "seeking emergency psychiatric evaluation and treatment," but was allegedly "rejected" and "refused" emergency screening, stabilisation, treatment, or admission.
Responding to the legal action, DCH provided a statement to WBRC 6, stating, "We would note that Mr. Taylor never entered our emergency department or any other hospital facility, was never registered as a patient, and never presented himself for care from DCH on May 12, 2026. We will allow the legal process to address the remaining facts in due course."
