A Pennsylvania nurse who prosecutors say administered excessive doses of insulin to nursing home patients, 17 of whom died, pleaded guilty Thursday.
The nurse, Heather Pressdee, was charged last May with killing two patients and injuring a third at Quality Life Services, a skilled nursing facility in Chicora. Months later, she was hit with new charges after prosecutors said she confessed to trying to kill 19 others at different facilities where she worked.
In total, Pressdee allegedly mistreated 22 patients — some diabetic and others not — with dangerously high levels of insulin at five different facilities from 2020 to 2023, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office said.
Her charges include first-degree murder, attempted murder and neglect of a care-dependent person.
Several family members of victims have filed wrongful death lawsuits.
A probable cause affidavit outlined disturbing details in the case, including alleged text messages Pressdee sent to her mother discussing times she said she wanted to kill someone.
“Can I kill this man at Taco Bell,” one alleged text from April 6, 2022, read.
“I’m gonna murder already,” another one read, dated June 10, 2022.
Other text messages discussed her patients and co-workers.
In a Sept. 2, 2022, text message, Pressdee allegedly told her mother that she was “gonna murder my aides.” In a message a few days later, she complained about a patient who was yelling, according to the affidavit.
“I drugged him already and I don’t know how he is awake,” the message read.
On May 12, 2023, Pressdee complained to her mother that a patient was “driving me nuts” because he was following her, according to the affidavit.
