Former Medical Worker Charged for Murdering 7 Military Veterans
A former medical worker at a West Virginia veterans hospital pleaded guilty of murder charges after she murdered seven patients.
Reta Mays, 46, was a nursing assistant at the Louis A. Johnson Veterans Affairs Medical Center in 2017 and 2018. During her employment, she injected seven military veterans with fatal doses of insulin. She also admitted to administering insulin to an eighth patient with the intent to commit murder.
The 46-year-old received seven counts of second-degree murder for the deaths of the veterans. She also received one count of assault with the intent to commit murder, reports The New York Times.
The suspect appeared in federal court on Tuesday, where she admitted to her crimes. She will serve seven life sentences. She will also get an additional 20 years in prison.
The Deaths of the Veterans in West Virginia
Reta Mays worked the night shift between 2015 and 2018. She was assigned to a ward that housed diabetic patients. According to the charging documents, the former medical worker did not need a license or certification to work at the VA hospital.
In June 2018, a medical doctor voiced concerns after several patients suffered and died from unexplained hypoglycemic episodes due to a surplus of insulin in the body. Some events involved patients who did not have diabetes.
The report filed by the doctor led the hospital to launch an internal investigation. Mays was fired the following month.
According to NPR, all seven victims had their blood sugar levels drop to deadly levels of under 70 mg/dL. An 88-year-old patient named Raymond Golden had his blood sugar levels drop to 7.
Archie Edgell, an 84-year-old veteran, had a blood sugar level of 24. Doctors were able to raise his level, but Mays injected him with another fatal dose. He died shortly after that.
Other victims were identified as Robert Edge Sr., Robert Kozul, George Shaw, Felix McDermott, and a patient listed as WAH.
The eighth person, only identified as RRP, was a 92-year-old man who did not have diabetes. The hospital staffers were able to stabilize his condition after Mays administered a fatal dose, but he died 14 days later at a nursing home.
As a nursing assistant, the suspect was tasked with measuring the patients' vital signs and observing who needed extra attention. She was also required to test their glucose levels. Mays did not have the authorization to administer any medicine.
Tony O'Dell, a lawyer representing the five victims' families, said the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General was conducting an investigation.
O'Dell also said the hospital failed to store the insulin where Mays would not have access to it. He also said the medical center was unable to treat the patients who suffered from hypoglycemia due to the massive insulin shots.
"There were a lot of system failures at that hospital that allowed this woman to do what she did for as long as she did," the lawyer said.