An Alabama nurse shot and killed as she walked to her car after finishing a hospital shift was heard begging for her life in her final moments.
Ada Doss, 27, was speaking by phone with her husband, Andrew Doss, about their workdays and what to make for dinner for their two young daughters, ages six months and two years, when 41-year-old Matthew James Taylor allegedly shot her dead on May 12.
According to a wrongful death lawsuit Andrew filed Wednesday against Taylor and DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa, he heard his wife’s voice become “filled with panic” as Taylor approached her with a firearm.
The complaint says Andrew then heard Ada’s last words — “Please don’t I have babies” — just seconds before she was fatally shot.
Andrew is now asking for compensatory and punitive damages to be determined by a jury in connection with his wife’s death.
In the filing, he alleges Taylor had been brought to the hospital earlier that day by an unidentified person who warned staff about his “manic and erratic behavior,” but claims hospital security “failed to assess the security threat and to locate Taylor.”
The lawsuit further alleges Taylor was able to leave the emergency room entrance and move around the hospital campus “unmonitored for hours,” despite being “shirtless, shoeless and armed.”
Ada Doss, 27, was talking on the phone with her husband, Andrew Doss, about their workdays and dinner plans for their six-month-old and two-year-old daughters when she was killed on May 12
Matthew James Taylor, 41, allegedly murdered Doss in a random attack after loitering at her hospital parking lot for hours
Authorities have previously said Taylor was dropped off at the medical center earlier in the day but never actually entered the building.
He instead allegedly loitered on the campus for about two hours and tried to rob another woman in the afternoon by waving a handgun at her and telling her to get out of her vehicle.
But the woman was able to drive away.
Just a short time later, police said Taylor approached Doss as she was walking to her car at the end of her shift at DCH Regional Medical Center.
He then allegedly pointed the gun at the mother-of-two and demanded her keys, according to charging documents obtained by AL.com.
Instead, Doss continued walking to her vehicle – and Taylor followed with the gun still pointed at her.
When they then arrived at Doss’ car, Taylor shot her once.
Authorities said Doss died at the scene, while Taylor allegedly went through her purse and entered her car.
The suspect was showing signs of mental illness at the time, police said.
Doss’ husband, Andrew Doss, has filed a wrongful death suit against the hospital
Officials at the hospital also previously described how Taylor never entered the hospital, and after a woman went into the emergency room and told staff there was a man outside who needed help, two nurses went out to find him, but he was already walking away.
Hospital security was then notified about the man and searched the building toward which he was seen walking, but he was nowhere to be found, hospital staff said.
At that time, there was no evidence he posed a threat and no further search took place.
Hospital staff further stated that Taylor did not appear on DCH’s security surveillance system for much of the two-hour period he was reportedly on hospital property.
‘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.’
But just minutes before Taylor allegedly opened fire, hospital staff said he took his shirt off and his behavior changed – prompting calls to security and local law enforcement.
Taylor was then taken into custody less than eight minutes after killing Doss.
He is now facing capital murder, first-degree robbery and illegal possession of a firearm charges, and is being held behind bars where he is being forcibly medicated, WTVM reports.
Officials at the hospital have previously said Taylor never entered the building and was not immediately considered a threat
Police apprehended Taylor less than eight minutes after Doss was shot
The murder brought renewed attention to the hospital’s security protocols.
One former DCH employee, who did not give their name, told CBS42 that Doss worked at the hospital for almost two years.
The worker said safety at the parking lot had been a concern of hers for some time, and argued that additional security could have prevented the tragedy.
‘I feel as though they should put like a security booth out there,’ the former employee said.
‘If it was gated in, or whatever, it would be hard for someone else to just come in from the outside and get in.’
Another worker added that they also felt security should be in place, given that many people with mental health issues visit hospitals, as ‘security needs to be better, and that’s not just DCH, that’s healthcare-wise everywhere, and parking in general should be a top priority for employees.’
The outlet reported that Tuscaloosa Police also handled a separate robbery incident at the hospital just a week before Doss’s death.
Doss’ final words, ‘Please don’t I have babies,’ in the seconds before she was shot and killed
Doss was remembered in an online obituary as a loving mother and wife
In a statement to CBS42, hospital personnel said they were ‘aware of a lawsuit filed today on behalf of the estate of our former colleague whom we lost in a tragic event on May 12.
‘She was a member of our DCH family – a dedicated nurse, a caregiver and a mother,’ hospital officials said. ‘Her loss is not a legal matter to us. It is personal. And her family’s grief is something we hold alongside our own.
‘While we cannot comment on the specifics of pending litigation, we will say that independent of any legal action, we take seriously the safety of everyone on our campus.
‘The enhancement of our security protocols will continue with input from our caregivers, patients and leading security experts,’ the hospital officials concluded. ‘We are committed to this work, and our efforts are ongoing.’
In the meantime, Doss was remembered as a loving mother and wife whose death ‘has left a profound emptiness in the lives of her family, friends, coworkers and all who were fortunate enough to know her.
‘While Ada found fulfillment in helping others professionally, her greatest joy in life was her family,’ an online obituary notes. ‘She was a loving wife, a devoted mother, a kind and thoughtful daughter and the type of person whose warmth made others feel instantly at ease.
‘She loved spending time outdoors, attending live sporting events and cheering passionately for the Boston Red Sox,’ the obituary said.
‘Before becoming a mother in 2023, Ada was never considered particularly “girly,” but motherhood changed that in the sweetest way. She fully embraced the pink, bows and all the joy that came with raising her daughters, a role she treasured more than anything else in the world.
‘Those who knew Ada will remember her for her kindness, her sense of humor, her fierce love for the people closest to her and the quiet strength she carried through every season of life.
‘Her love for her family was unmistakable and evident in everything she did,’ it concluded.
The Daily Mail has reached out to DCH Regional Medical Center for comment.
