Heather Pressdee admitted to giving too much insulin to 22 nursing home patients in Pennsylvania, and most of them died afterward.
A Pennsylvania nurse will spend the rest of her life in prison after admitting to intentionally administering excessive doses of insulin to nearly two dozen nursing home patients.
Heather Pressdee, 41, received three consecutive life sentences for pleading guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and 19 counts of attempted murder, announced Attorney General Michelle Henry. news release. Additionally, she was given 380 to 760 years of consecutive imprisonment for the 19 counts of attempted murder.
As Law&Crime was accused of intentionally giving excessive insulin to 22 patients—17 of whom died—between 2020 and her arrest in May 2023, according to the state attorney general’s office.
“The defendant abused her position of trust to poison patients who relied on her for care,” Henry said. “This plea and life sentence won’t bring back the lives lost, but it will ensure Pressdee never has another chance to cause harm.
Family members of victims spoke out in court.
Melinda Brown, whose brother, Nick Cymbol, died from the insulin given by Pressdee last year, called her “pure evil.” KDKA reported.
“There’s no justice for this,” said Brown. “We’ll get justice when she meets her maker.”
Elizabeth Simons Ozella’s mother, Irene Simons, 78, was injected with insulin despite not being diabetic and died under Pressdee’s care.
Elizabeth Simons Ozella said, “My brother and I needed to come today. We’ve been looking forward to being able to say what we feel. We know it’s probably falling on deaf ears on her side. But anybody who can do what she did won’t care about a few words we say.”
Marissa Hiles said that her aunt, Betty Hutchinson, survived Pressdee’s excessive insulin dose but suffered a stroke and can’t feed herself or speak.
“She’s still with us she’s just not quite the person she was prior to this,” said Marissa Hiles.
The Associated Press reported another speaker telling the court: “She is not sick. She is not insane. She is evil personified … I looked into the face of Satan myself the morning she killed my father.”
When her lawyer asked why she pleaded guilty, Pressdee responded, “Because I am guilty,” as reported by the AP.
Pressdee offered an apology to the victims in court, according to KDKA.
Pressdee expressed regret for their quality of life and mentioned hoping they would peacefully pass away, as stated in the initial criminal complaint.
In addition to facing wrongful death lawsuits, Pressdee is dealing with one brought by the family of Cymbol. The law firm representing the Cymbol case also works with family members of four other Pressdee victims.
The lawsuit accuses Pressdee of giving the 43-year-old “brittle diabetic” a lethal dose after she regularly insulted, berated, bullied, and mistreated him.
The lawsuit describes the events that led to Cymbol’s passing following the suspicious death of another patient.
The lawsuit stated, “Pressdee targeted Nick Cymbol,” a “brittle diabetic” who frequently had significant swings in his blood glucose levels and required regular insulin administration to manage his blood sugar.