A former Pennsylvania nurse who admitted that she administered extreme doses of insulin to just about two dozen sufferers, 17 of whom died, was sentenced to life in jail on Thursday after pleading responsible to homicide and different fees.
The previous nurse, Heather Pressdee, 41, administered excessive doses of insulin to 22 sufferers at 5 rehabilitation facilities throughout Pennsylvania between 2020 and 2023, prosecutors stated. The sufferers she was accused of mistreating ranged in age from 43 to 104.
Ms. Pressdee was initially charged in Could 2023 with killing two nursing dwelling sufferers and injuring a 3rd. However in November, the state lawyer normal’s workplace got here ahead with further fees after prosecutors stated Ms. Pressdee admitted to attempting to kill a complete of 19 sufferers.
In line with the lawyer normal’s workplace, first-degree homicide fees have been filed in opposition to Ms. Pressdee solely in circumstances the place “bodily proof” was obtainable. Tried-murder fees have been filed, it stated, in circumstances the place “the victims both survived the extreme dosage of insulin, or the reason for dying couldn’t be decided.”
At her arraignment in November, Ms. Pressdee’s lawyer, Phillip P. DiLucente, stated his purpose was to keep away from the dying penalty. Capital punishment is authorized although hardly ever utilized in Pennsylvania.
Ms. Pressdee pleaded responsible on Thursday to a few counts of first-degree homicide and 19 counts of tried homicide. She was sentenced to a few consecutive phrases of life in jail and one other consecutive jail time period of 380 to 760 years, in accordance with The Related Press.
In a felony criticism filed in November, prosecutors stated Ms. Pressdee administered extreme quantities of insulin to sufferers, often throughout in a single day shifts when staffing was low.
Some sufferers have been diabetic, others weren’t. If a affected person didn’t die, Ms. Pressdee would take further measures to kill the individual, by administering a second dose of insulin or by way of “using an air embolism,” when a number of air bubbles blocks a vein or artery, in accordance with the criticism.
Prosecutors detailed a historical past of troubling statements Ms. Pressdee made on social media and in conversations with colleagues, together with “When is she going to die already?”
In a separate wrongful dying lawsuit, workers members at one nursing dwelling seen that Ms. Pressdee had exhibited “troubling conduct” and that the well being of sufferers in her care would “unexpectedly deteriorate.”
A number of workers members, the lawsuit states, started referring to her because the Killer Nurse.
Mr. DiLucente and the lawyer normal’s workplace didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. Native information experiences stated households of Ms. Pressdee’s victims packed a Butler County courtroom on Thursday to supply sufferer’s statements.
“There’s no justice for this,” Melinda Brown, whose brother, Nicholas Cymbol, 43, was amongst Ms. Pressdee’s victims, informed the ABC affiliate WTAE on Thursday. “She’ll get justice when she meets her maker.”
