HARRISBURG, Pa. (TCD) — A 41-year-old nurse accused of killing patients with a fatal amount of insulin is now facing additional murder and attempted murder charges for allegedly mistreating 19 other people at five different medical facilities.
On Thursday, Nov. 2, Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry announced that her office charged Heather Pressdee with two counts of first-degree murder, 17 counts of attempted murder, and 19 counts of neglect of a care-dependent person. She was previously charged with two counts of homicide, one count of attempted murder, one count of aggravated assault, three counts of neglect of a care-dependent person, and three counts of reckless endangerment in May.
The May charges stem from alleged crimes that occurred at Quality Life Services in 2022. Pressdee allegedly administered too much insulin to a 55-year-old and 83-year-old man in December 2022, and a 73-year-old man in August 2022. The 55-year-old and 83-year-old patients died as a result, while the 73-year-old man survived but required emergency medical treatment. According to the attorney general’s office, only one of the patients was diabetic.
Further investigation revealed that between 2020 and this year, Pressdee allegedly did the same to additional victims while she worked as a registered nurse for Concordia at Rebecca Residence, Belair Healthcare and Rehabilitation (Guardian), Quality Life Services Chicora, Premier Armstrong Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, and Sunnyview Rehabilitation and Nursing Center. The patients ranged in age from 43 to 104 years old and some were diabetic, while others were not.
The attorney general’s office said Pressdee often “administered the insulin during overnight shifts when staffing was low and the emergencies would not prompt immediate hospitalization.”
In total, Pressdee allegedly killed at least 17 patients and mistreated 22 while they were under her care.
The first-degree murder charges stem from cases where “physical evidence is available to support the cause of death,” and the attempted murder charges are from incidents “where the victims either survived the excessive dosage of insulin, or the cause of death could not be determined,” according to the attorney general’s office.
On Thursday, Nov. 2, the Honorable Maura Palumbi arraigned Pressdee. She remains held in the Butler County Prison without bail.
Henry said in a statement, “The allegations against Ms. Pressdee are disturbing. It is hard to comprehend how a nurse, trusted to care for her patients, could choose to deliberately and systematically harm them.”
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