CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Sentencing is set this week for a licensed practical nurse who admitted to killing seven elderly veterans with lethal doses of insulin at a West Virginia hospital. Still a mystery is what prompted Reta Mays to commit the crimes.

Mays pleaded guilty last year to intentionally killing patients with wrongful insulin injections at Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center in Clarksburg. She faces life in prison for each of seven counts of second degree murder when convicted Tuesday in federal court.

Mays, 46, of Reynoldsville, admitted at a plea hearing in July that she injected veterans with non-prescribed insulin while working night shifts at the Northern West Virginia hospital between 2017 and 2018. Hospital officials reported the deaths to the Virginia Inspector General and fired Mays.

The motive for Mays, who served in the Army National Guard in a non-combat position in Iraq and Afghanistan, is still unclear. Then-American attorney Bill Powell said authorities had not received a “satisfactory answer” to questions about the reasoning behind his actions.

Among Mays ‘tasks was measuring patients’ vital signs and blood sugar levels. VA nursing assistants are not qualified or licensed to administer medications, including insulin, prosecutors said. Nursing assistants at the hospital were also not required to have a certificate or license as a condition of continued employment.

Powell said there were around 20 suspicious deaths at the medical center during Mays’ time there, but charges were only laid in cases where the government believed he had sufficient evidence.

Some family members are expected to make statements at the sentencing hearing.

The second degree murder charges involved the deaths of Army veterans Robert Lee Kozul Sr., 89, Archie D. Edgell, 84, Felix Kirk McDermott, 82, and a 96-year-old man identified only by his initials, WAH; 82-year-old Navy veteran Robert Edge Sr.; 81-year-old Air Force veteran George Nelson Shaw Sr.; and Army and Air Veteran Raymond Golden, 88.

It is not clear whether Mays admitted a connection to the death of Navy veteran Russell R. Posey Sr., 92. But in addition to her other pleas, she also pleaded guilty to one count of assault with intent to commit murder involving the death of “veteran RRP” – Posey’s initials. She faces up to an additional 20 years from this. chief.

In addition, the federal government has accepted the settlement of numerous lawsuits brought by families of veterans alleging a widespread system of hospital failures.

The VA is responsible for 9 million military veterans. The former agency director was fired in 2018 following a deadly ethics scandal and growing rebellion within the agency. Robert Wilkie took up his duties as Secretary of Veterans Affairs in July 2018.

This article was written by JOHN RABY of The Associated Press and was legally authorized by the Dive into industry network of publishers. Please direct all licensing questions to [email protected].

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