Sentencing Delayed For Fired VA Staffer In West Virginia Who Killed 7 Patients
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (AP/KDKA) — Sentencing has been delayed for a former staffer at a veterans hospital in West Virginia who pleaded guilty to intentionally killing seven patients with fatal doses of insulin.
A federal judge on Friday granted a motion by attorneys for Reta Mays to push back her sentencing. It now will be held May 11-12. It had been scheduled for Feb. 18-19.
Prosecutors had opposed the request as unreasonable.
Mays, a former nursing assistant at the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center in Clarksburg, was charged with seven counts of second-degree murder and one count of assault with the intent to commit murder of an eighth person. She admitted in July to purposely killing the veterans, injecting them with unprescribed insulin while she worked overnight shifts at the hospital in northern West Virginia between 2017 and 2018.
One of the victims was a retired Army sergeant from Westmoreland County, 82-year-old Felix McDermott. He died in April 2018. Officials said he received insulin before his death, even though he was not diabetic.
RELATED STORIES:
- Sentencing Set For Nursing Assistant In W. Va. VA Hospital Killings
- Tentative Settlements Reached In W. Va. Veterans' Hospital Deaths
- 6th Lawsuit Filed In Deaths At West Virginia VA Hospital
- Veteran Affairs Sued Over Westmoreland County Veteran's Death From Wrongful Insulin Injection
- Person Of Interest In Suspicious Deaths At VA Hospital In W. Va. Reportedly Identified
- Sen. Manchin Demands Answers After Visiting W. Va. Medical Center Where Westmoreland Co. Vet's Death Was Ruled A Homicide
- Westmoreland Co. Vet's Death At W. Va. Medical Center Prompts Probe By Veterans Affairs Dept.
- Family Of Westmoreland County Veteran Files Federal Tort Claims Act Following Stay At West Virginia VA Hospital
- Westmoreland County Man's Death Ruled A Homicide After VA Hospital Treatment In West Virginia
She faces life sentences in each death.
Defense attorneys said the coronavirus pandemic has limited travel and the ability to meet with Mays in jail. In addition, the defense said it needs to obtain Mays' records from the federal government and secure an expert on post-traumatic stress disorder prior to sentencing.
(Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.)