“These were deliberate and intentional acts perpetrated by a care-giver who was trusted to care for these victims,” Pennsylvania A.G. Michelle Henry said
A former registered nurse was arrested this month on homicide and other charges, authorities in Pennsylvania announced.
Heather Pressdee, of Natrona Heights, is accused of having prescribed excessive amounts of insulin to patients, ultimately killing two patients and hospitalizing a third, Attorney General Michelle Henry said in a May 25 press release.
Pressdee, 40, was arraigned on 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.
It’s unclear if Pressdee has entered a plea to the charges or retained an attorney to speak on her behalf. She is being held in Butler County Prison without bail and is expected back in court on June 6, court records show.
Pressdee worked as a registered nurse at Quality Life Services, a skilled nursing facility in Chicora, from May 23, 2022, until Nov. 28, 2022, during which time prosecutors claim she gave three patients too much insulin, resulting in hypoglycemia, low blood sugar, according to a criminal complaint.
According to the complaint, a 55-year-old man died on Dec. 4, 2022 and an 83-year-old man died on Dec. 25, 2022, after receiving lethal doses of insulin while under Pressdee’s care. A third alleged victim, a 73-year-old man, survived after “emergency hospitalization,” as a result of the “potentially-lethal dose of insulin he received on Aug. 31, 2022,” according to Henry’s release.
Two of the three men were not diabetic, according to Henry.
Henry alleged the nurse, whose role it was to care for her patients, killed them on purpose.
“The allegations in this case outline the callous abuse of incredibly vulnerable patients by a professional nurse,” the AG said in the release. “As the charges indicate, these were deliberate and intentional acts perpetrated by a care-giver who was trusted to care for these victims. Be assured, my office will zealously pursue justice for the families of those who were killed, as well as the third victim who is fortunate to have survived.”
The complaint states an investigation began after a relative of one of the alleged victim’s claimed Pressdee improperly administered insulin to patients under her care.
During questioning about the fatal alleged victims, Pressdee allegedly said she “felt bad for their quality of life and she had hoped that they would slip into a coma and pass away,” the complaint states. According to a nurse at the facility, Pressdee allegedly told her that one of the patients who later died, identified in the complaint as J.B., “would be better off dead.”
Authorities also alleged in the complaint Pressdee told investigators that the surviving patient, identified as E.A., was in COVID isolation and had asked her to “kill him,” before she injected him in the stomach with “one syringe, approximately 100 units, of long-acting insulin.”
“She stated that he began showing symptoms and that she did not address the symptoms, and the oncoming shift sent him to the hospital,” authorities said in the complaint.
Since 2018, Pressdee has worked brief stints as a nurse at about 11 facilities, including Quality Life Services, per the complaint. Authorities claimed they “identified a pattern of Pressdee being disciplined for abusive behavior towards patients and/or staff at each facility resulting in her resigning or being terminated.”
Authorities say the investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with concerns about care their loved one received involving Pressdee is urged to contact the Office of Attorney General’s tip line at 888-538-8541.