TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (WBRC) – Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox says changes must be made in how everyone approaches mental illness following the fatal shooting of a hospital nurse.
Ada Doss, a 27-year-old nurse case manager at DCH Regional Medical Center, was shot and killed Tuesday afternoon, May 12, during an attempted robbery in a parking lot behind the hospital, police said.
Matthew James Taylor(Tuscaloosa Sheriff’s Office)
Matthew James Taylor, 41, is charged with capital murder in Doss’s death. Investigators said Taylor showed signs of mental health challenges.
“It’s a senseless tragedy,” Maddox said. “It’s soul-wrenching to think about someone who dedicated their life to taking care of others.”
Ada Doss(Jennifer McAteer)
Maddox said the state has moved away from providing long-term beds for people in acute mental health distress over the last 10 to 15 years.
“Gone to a model where they’re trying to reintegrate people into the community without structure, without organization and without resources,” Maddox said. “The consequences of this have been warned for years.”
Maddox said the issue is not about funding but about approach.
1 shot, killed at DCH Medical Center in Tuscaloosa(WBRC)
“We have to change the approach when it comes to mental health,” Maddox said. “Putting people out in the streets for community based programs that don’t exist, frankly, is a fairytale.”
DCH leaders said they have made plans to increase parking lot security, including escorting people to their vehicles.
Maddox said Tuscaloosa remains safe, noting Doss’s death was the first criminal homicide of the year. The city has a ’robust’ behavioral health unit with 26 officers trained in crisis intervention, according to Maddox.
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