WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — 47-year-old Johnathan Hayes is accused of administering lethal doses of insulin, killing two patients and almost killing a third is a former employee at Novant Health, according to officials.
The Forsyth County district attorney said all options are on the table as far as punishment goes.
Hayes is facing two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder. The state said he could seek the death penalty for his actions.
Novant health officials said Hayes was a former team member.
“We can confirm that Johnathan Hayes is a former Novant Health team member. As a result of recent allegations, we’re thoroughly examining patient care records to confirm the quality of care provided by Mr. Hayes. If this examination identifies information relevant to the recent law enforcement investigation, we will notify local authorities as part of our continued cooperation with law enforcement."
Capital Defender, Jason Crump, was appointed to represent Hayes in this case.
RELATED: 'Rogue nurse' charged with murder for giving deadly doses of insulin to Wake Forest Baptist patients
A capital defender is someone that represents people who are charged with first-degree murder. Crump said he will work to try to get the death penalty off the table.
"Everything that we do is to take the death penalty off of the table. That is our first goal as capital defenders if a case is not capital, then our focus changes," Crump explained.
Crump said a capital case is different from any other type of case.
There’s a small number of attorneys in North Carolina that do capital cases and there are 2,250 pending murder cases against adults in North Carolina.
In capital cases, a lot more mitigation is involved.
Who is Johnathan Hayes?
WFMY News 2's Ben Briscoe dug into how long the suspect has been working in our area.
Wednesday, a spokesperson from Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist confirmed the following via e-mail:
"Over the last 15 years, Hayes worked for Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist at various times as a registered nurse. As soon as we identified a deviation in patient care as part of our established patient safety processes, we took immediate action to remove the employee from the patient care environment and terminated his employment."
After finding out he was on and off at Baptist for 15 years, we took a look at his North Carolina State Board of Nursing license. It appears he was working even longer in North Carolina.
He first got the license 22 years ago in 2000.
Not to mention, his nursing license said there have been no charges or discipline against him in the past.
Hayes' license is also still active.
We've reached out to other healthcare systems to see if he ever worked there. Some have not gotten back to us yet.
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist said they reported their concerns to the police and the nursing board.
The investigation is still ongoing.
Hayes' next court date is November 10.
Investigators are worried that there might be other victims from this nurse.
That's why they've set up a hotline. Anyone who has more information about the suspect is asked to call 336-757-0357.