Charles Thompson is on death row since 1999 because two people lost their lives in a tragic way. However, the death of Denise Hayslip and Darren Cain was in no way capital murder like the prosecution claimed.

 

The short story is: Darren Cain was the one who confronted Charles Thompson. Darren Cain grabbed a knife when the men met and Charles grabbed the gun that was at Denise's apartment for her protection. The men fought over the gun. Charles Thompson shot Darren Cain to protect himself, and in the fight, suffered a gunshot himself.

 

Denise suffered from a gunshot, too, which was a tragic accident. She did not die from this gunshot however, but at the hospital where she was transported to. She was alert but had to wait for hours until she was sedated in preparation for a surgery. Tragically, the air tube was inserted into the esophagus instead of the trachea. The doctors left her alone for 10 minutes, failing to see that she was receiving no oxygen. Because of this she became brain-dead. Her death was caused by medical malpractice at the hospital.

 

Charles Thompson turned himself in the same day, claiming responsibility for what had happened.