A former nursing worker at a West Virginia Veterans Hospital was sentenced Monday to seven life sentences for injecting a lethal dose of insulin into an elderly man that killed seven veterans, FoxNews.com reported.
Hospital officials began suspecting she had a problem in July 2018 and contacted the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Inspector General, who began an investigation into the veteran’s bizarre death.
After pleading guilty, Mays told investigators that she murdered the elderly “to get them to leave ‘moderately’ because she had a lot of stress and confusion in her personal and professional lives, which gave her a sense of control.” ”
But Assistant Attorney Douglas dismissed Mays’ claims, calling her actions “predatory and systematic.”
The Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Veterans Affairs (OIG) also accused the hospital of “policy deficiencies and practice errors” and “inadequate drug management and safety measures” that led to Mays’s wanton repeated killings over such a long period of time without being discovered.
“While it is clear that the responsibility for these crimes lies with Mays, OIG has found that she has been negligent at several critical moments and that if the hospital’s treatment were different, it could have allowed Mays’ actions to be detected earlier or possibly avoided altogether.” Inspector General Michael Misal wrote in the report.
Reported that the hospital nurses were improperly allowed into the drug room, insulin-laden carts unlocked, unattended. In addition, according to OIG, the hospital used an “informal tracking system” that allowed Metz to take insulin without causing suspicion. The hospital also ignored allegations of excessive violence faced by Mays while serving as a prison guard at a north-central prison from 2005 to 2012.
On Tuesday, Mays wept in court after being sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison. She told the court: “I know I can’t put into words how much these families are suffering. I don’t ask for forgiveness, because if anyone does what I do, I can’t forgive. ”
U.S. District Judge Thomas Kerry showed no sympathy for the convicted murderer when he sentenced her. “Your lawyer has said many times that you should not be seen as a monster,” Kerry told Mays on Tuesday. With all due respect, I don’t agree with that. You’re the worst kind of person, you’re a monster that no one finds out. ”
