Overview
- Ada Chapman Doss, a 27-year-old nurse, was shot and killed in the DCH Regional Medical Center parking lot during her shift exit on May 12, 2026, according to police and court filings.
- Authorities arrested 41-year-old Matthew James Taylor at the scene and a Tuscaloosa County grand jury indicted him on capital murder, first-degree robbery, and illegal-possession charges on June 3.
- Doss’s husband filed a wrongful-death lawsuit saying hospital and contracted Allied security were told about Taylor’s alleged ‘manic and erratic’ behavior yet failed to locate or contain him before the shooting and recounting the victim’s final plea heard by her husband.
- Taylor’s mother has filed a separate claim saying he was taken to DCH earlier that day seeking emergency psychiatric evaluation and was turned away, a contention the hospital disputes by saying he never entered or was registered in the emergency department.
- Taylor is in custody and has been reported as receiving forcible medication while detained, and the overlapping criminal case and civil suits are likely to spur reviews of on‑campus security, emergency screening and hospital intake practices.