WALTON COUNTY, Fla. — A surgeon with Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast in Walton County has been indicted for second-degree manslaughter in the August 2024 operating room death of a 70-year-old man.
The Office of the State Attorney for the First Judicial Circuit announced that a Walton County Grand Jury has returned an indictment charging Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky, 44, with second-degree manslaughter. He was booked into Walton County Jail Monday afternoon.
WEAR News previously reported extensively about the death of William Bryan from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, on August 21, 2024.
“During what was scheduled to be a laparoscopic splenectomy, Dr. Shaknovsky removed the victim’s liver instead of his spleen, resulting in catastrophic blood loss and the patient’s death on the operating table,” the Walton County Sheriff’s Office says in a release. “The Grand Jury found probable cause to charge that the actions taken in the operating room constituted criminal conduct under Florida law.”
Bryan and his wife Beverly traveled from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, for a vacation at their condo in Destin. While they were there, Bryan began feeling pain on his left side. He then went to Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast on August 18, 2024, and became a patient of Dr. Shaknovsky.
“I tried to convince Dr. Shaknovsky to let me take him home or arrange to be transported,” Beverly Bryan told WEAR News. “But Dr. Shaknovsky said that Bill would bleed to death if he was moved.”
In September 2024, the state of Florida suspended Dr. Shaknovsky’s medical license, while the state of Alabama removed it.
In January 2025, Beverly Bryan filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Dr. Shaknovsky and the hospital.
The manslaughter indictment follows an investigation conducted by the Walton County Sheriff’s Office in coordination with the Office of the State Attorney First Judicial Circuit and additional state and medical authorities.
“Our duty is to follow the facts wherever they lead, without fear or favor,” said Walton County Sheriff Michael Adkinson. “The Grand Jury has spoken, and our responsibility is to ensure the charges are carried out through the proper legal process. Our thoughts remain with the victim’s family and their unspeakable loss.
“We are committed to seeing this case through with the professionalism and integrity our community expects.”
Bill Bryan left behind three children and eight grandchildren.