Heather Pressdee, a Pennsylvania nurse, pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and 19 counts of attempted homicide, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported May 1.
Ms. Pressdee pleaded guilty on May 2 in an ongoing hearing that is expected to go until May 3. She was sentenced to life in prison, according to NBC affiliate WPXI of Pittsburgh.
Ms. Pressdee, 41, was first charged in May 2023 in connection with the mistreatment of three nursing home patients while working at Quality Life Services in Chicora, Pa., including two counts of homicide and one count of attempted murder. In November, she was charged in connection with the mistreatment of 19 additional patients that were in her care at five different facilities since 2020.
"Pressdee is accused of administering excessive amounts of insulin to these patients, some of whom were diabetic and required insulin, some of whom were not," the office of Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry said in a Nov. 2 statement on the latest charges. "In total, 17 patients died who had been cared for by Presdee."
Since she was first arrested, three wrongful death lawsuits have been filed against two of the facilities she worked for, alleging they employed a nurse who had a history of complaints.
The case has sparked a push for legislation that would allow Pennsylvania to create a registry where employers could flag concerns about nursing home employees. Professional medical associations have also called on healthcare organizations to improve insulin safety by putting stricter safeguards in place.
Becker's will update this story if more information becomes available during the course of the hearing.