Inmate died slowly, 1 mile from a hospital. ‘I don’t have time for him,’ jail nurse said

Carmon Brannan, a politically connected former nurse at the George County jail, will spend the next 15 years in prison for killing an inmate who went seven days without insulin while under her care.

William Joel Dixon, 28, was a self-described meth addict, but District Attorney Tony Lawrence said he did not deserve to die.

Brannan’s first trial resulted in a hung jury earlier this year, but a Warren County jury wasted no time convicting her Monday at the end of a six-day trial in Circuit Court.

Jurors listened to closing arguments Monday morning, then deliberated for a little more than an hour. Lunch hour was still in progress when Special Judge Richard McKenzie called everyone back for the verdict.

In short order, he sentenced a dry-eyed Brannan, after she said she had nothing to say, and sent her off in handcuffs to the Warren County jail.

Brannan plans to appeal her conviction and hopes to be released on bond at a hearing scheduled for 10 a.m. Aug. 16 in Lucedale.

‘The family has waited for four years’

Before the verdict was announced, McKenzie warned spectators against outbursts in court.

Members of Brannan’s family, including George County Chancery Clerk Cammie Brannan Byrd, left the courtroom before Brannan did. As the family gathered in the hall, a female could be heard wailing.

After the courtroom cleared, Lawrence told the Sun Herald: “The community has waited for four years. The family has waited for four years to find out what happened to Joel and this jury told us what happened to Joel.

“It’s a good message that even if someone has a drug addiction, they’re still a human being. They deserve to be treated with respect and to have the health care they deserve in prison if they need it to survive.”

Dixon’s mother was in tears. She said her son was humble from the time he was a child. He was bullied in school for being overweight, Donna Dixon said, but never responded to his tormentors’ hateful remarks. He had two children.

“We finally got justice for Joel,” she said. “The system does work. Mr. Lawrence and his team did such a good job.

“I know this won’t bring Joel back, but it will keep her (Brannan) from doing this to someone else.”

‘I don’t have time for him’

Nobody disputed that Dixon was throwing up, slurring his speech and unable to eat in the days before he died. When she testified, Brannan said she believed he was suffering from methamphetamine withdrawal.

The day before he died, he was so weak and his speech so slurred that jailers could only make out “help me,” Assistant District Attorney Cherie Wade told the jury during closing arguments.

Wade said jailers told Brannan she needed to check on him. She glanced into his cell for less than a second the morning he died, Wade said. “I don’t have time for him,” the prosecutor quoted Brannan as saying.

Attorneys for Brannan, who has lost her nursing license, blamed jailers for failing to act.

Attorney Paul “Bud” Holmes told jurors: “Ninety times those guards were supposed to monitor and report. ... What is fair about blaming her for something those guards didn’t tell her?”

Holmes also said the guards could have called 911. But Lawrence and Wade said it was Brannan’s duty, as a medical staffer, to monitor Dixon’s condition, and give him his insulin or get medical help if he refused to take it.

“All she had to do was call the doctor,” Lawrence told the jury. “ ... He lay one mile from the hospital, but it might as well have been a million miles.”

Anita Lee can be reached at 228-896-2331 or @CAnitaLee1

This story was originally published July 30, 2018 at 3:41 PM.