GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands, Oct. 4, CMC – A jury has acquitted Dr. Paul Taiganides, 63, of manslaughter by culpable negligence in connection with the death of shooting victim Travis Ebanks at the Health Services Authority hospital in January 2024.
The verdict was returned Friday afternoon after a jury of three women and four men deliberated for more than two days.
Taiganides was the lead physician in the emergency room when Ebanks was brought to hospital in critical condition on January 21, 2024, after suffering gunshot wounds to the chest and neck and a severed spinal cord.
Prosecutors alleged that a breathing tube had been wrongly placed in Ebanks’ oesophagus rather than his airway and that Taiganides failed to identify and correct the error.
However, evidence during the more than three-week trial showed that the tube had been correctly positioned for at least part of the treatment, with checks carried out at the time and an improvement in Ebanks’ oxygen levels supporting that position.
The court also heard that Ebanks had lost about half of his blood volume and urgently needed a transfusion, but blood was not immediately available when he arrived at the hospital. He was also suffering from brain herniation.
Medical experts for the prosecution and defence disagreed on several key issues, although prosecution witnesses also testified that Taiganides had followed the required medical procedures.
Taiganides denied the allegations when he gave evidence in his own defence.
Justice Cheryll Richards had earlier rejected two defence applications to have the case dismissed, ruling that it should be decided by the jury.
CMC/ci/kb/2026