A Pennsylvania nurse on murder trial is facing more charges after admitting to authorities that she attempted to kill 19 people in her care.
Heather Pressdee, 41, was already charged after Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry said the registered nurse from Natrona Heights confessed to intentionally administering a lethal dose of medication to three patients at the Quality Life Services nursing facility in Chicora, a western Pennsylvania borough. In May, she was charged with homicide and attempted murder after two men, ages 55 and 83, died, and a third was hospitalized.
According to a news statement from Henry's office, fresh charges were brought on Thursday in connection with the mistreatment of 19 other patients treated by Pressdee between 2020 and 2023 at five separate care facilities. According to the announcement, the new accusations include two counts of first-degree murder, 17 counts of attempted murder, and 19 counts of abuse of a care-dependent person.
According to Pressdee's defense team, she is "cooperating" with prosecutors and investigators. Attorneys Jim DePasquale and Phil Di Lucente said she has not entered a plea to any of the accusations. "From the beginning of these proceedings, the goal was to avoid the imposition of the death penalty." "We are working towards that goal," the attorneys stated.
According to the criminal complaint filed against Pressdee, Pressdee admitted to "harming, with the intent to kill" all 19 patients identified in the complaint, ranging in age from 43 to 104.
According to reports, the patients were being treated in various facilities, including Concordia at Rebecca Residence, Belair Healthcare and Rehabilitation, Quality Life Services Chicora, Premier Armstrong Rehabilitation and Nursing Centre, and Sunnyview Rehabilitation and Nursing Centre.
According to the lawsuit, Pressdee also reportedly delivered a second dose of insulin or used an air embolism to ensure a patient died if she thought they could survive.
Staff workers at the Belair Healthcare and Rehabilitation Centre feared Pressdee was killing patients and contacted officials in one case.
Belair suspended Pressdee pending an inquiry in response to complaints but then stated that an internal probe found "no identifiable evidence uncovered to support the concerns of Pressdee's coworkers," according to the complaint.
