Former George County jail nurse takes the stand in her own defense after death of diabetic inmate

Former George County jail nurse Carmon Brannan took the stand Friday in her own manslaughter trial, saying she never sent an insulin-dependent inmate to a doctor because his vital signs were always in a safe range and she suspected he was going through drug withdrawals.

The trial is in Warren County after a mistrial earlier this year in George County. She is accused of causing the Sept. 24, 2014, death of inmate William Joel Dixon, who died after going seven days without insulin.

Dixon, 28, of Lucedale, was arrested Sept. 17, 2014, after police found him passed out in his car with two children inside. He was jailed on DUI, drug and child endangerment charges.

The following morning, Brannan said she reviewed intake forms on new inmates and saw that Dixon was a diabetic.

She said she did a medical assessment to check his vitals — including oxygen levels, heart rate and blood pressure checks — and asked him about his diabetes.

“I don’t have a doctor,” she recalled Dixon saying. “I haven’t had one in a year. I don’t take medication. I don’t take insulin.”

She said he repeatedly told her he could take care of himself and hadn’t seen a doctor for his diabetes for a year.

A doctor also testified that Dixon went to him a few months before his death and Dixon never mentioned he had diabetes.

Brannan said Dixon told her he didn’t take insulin because he had a 1- to 2-gram-a-day meth habit and took pills that Brannan suspected were opiates, though he never told her what they were.

In addition, she said, Dixon refused treatment for his diabetes. She said she had him sign a medication refusal form on Sept. 18, 2014, but that document — along with others she said she completed and turned over to the jail warden — was never found by investigators.

‘I called Donna Dixon’

When a part-time nurse told Brannan that Joel Dixon had insulin in his car at the time of his arrest, Brannan said she called Dixon’s mother, Donna Dixon, who said her son did take insulin and controlled his diabetes with that and through his diet.

But, she said, Dixon told her he took care of himself and didn’t need anything.

Donna Dixon said she had insulin sent to the jail, but Brannan said she couldn’t make someone take insulin if they refused.

Brannan said she never suspected Dixon needed insulin or emergency treatment because his vitals were in the safe range even after reports of him vomiting, calling for help because he couldn’t breathe, and other issues.

“I though he was going through drug withdrawals,” she said, something a medical expert also testified was certainly within reason based on the vitals she reported and the symptoms Dixon was displaying. Brannan also mentioned the rampant drug problems in George County.

She admitted only checking Dixon’s blood sugar one time during his jail stay, but she reiterated that he told her he didn’t take insulin to treat his diabetes.

Special treatment unit

Brannan placed Dixon in the jail’s special treatment unit on Sept. 22, 2014, after he had a second fall in the shower.

He had issues several times that day, and each time Brannan said she checked him but nothing alarmed her enough to send him to a doctor.

The day before his death, guards told Brannan his condition was worsening, but again Brannan said nothing indicated there was an emergency situation.

Brannan explained how in her absence she relied on log sheets filled out by the guards, which documented health issues such as if inmates were eating or refusing food, sleeping during abnormal hours, and illness symptoms.

Former jail supervisor Leslie Hodges testified that she often had to reprimand guards for not filling out the log sheets properly or in a timely manner.

The following morning, Brannan is seen on video walking though the unit where Dixon was housed. She had at one point told authorities he was standing and spoke to her when she saw him. In her testimony, though, she said she realized after watching surveillance video that he was not standing but did speak to her.

She then recounted the moment after guards summoned her to Dixon’s cell.

“I looked in the door and I said, ‘Oh no, call the warden, call the sheriff, and I had dialed 911,” she said. “By then, he was dark and cold. It was really crazy after that.”

She said she later turned over all of her paperwork on Dixon to the warden and returned to her office.

The following day and for several days after that, she said she kept waiting for an investigator or someone to call her to talk to her about what happened.

She said she never thought for a moment “I was being investigated for killing someone.”

A few days later, she was called in and placed on administrative leave with pay pending the outcome of Dixon’s autopsy report.

A short time later, she said, the warden and then-Sheriff Dean Howell called her in and told her she was being fired for failing to do her paperwork properly. She said she disagreed with the assessment and was allowed to resign.

She said it wasn’t until months later that an investigator called and came to her new job at Mobile Infirmary and questioned her about Dixon’s death.

She said she had no idea she was under investigation when she talked to the officer and likely would have rejected the interview had she known.

The bottom line, Brannan said, is she would have sent Dixon to a doctor for emergency help had she suspected he was in need of it.

She also said guards did have the authority to dial 911 for help if someone was in jail.

Guards said the nurse was the only person with that authority.

This story was originally published July 28, 2018 at 3:01 PM.