CLARKSBURG — There is still the possibility of more lawsuits against the Louis A. Johnson Veteran's Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) for deaths allegedly caused by serial killer Reta Mays.
The deadline for lawsuits to be filed against VAMC is August, which is the two-year anniversary of the investigation into mysterial deaths at the VAMC going public, according to the Associated Press.
Mays was a nursing assistant at the VAMC and admitted she killed veterans by giving them fatal shots of insulin.
Mays was recently moved to a low-security women's prison in Alabama. She was sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences plus 20 years for the deaths of seven veterans that she admitted to injecting with unnecessary insulin. Mays was moved to FCI Aliceville.
Mays’ victims included Robert Edge Sr., Robert Kozul, Archie Edgell, George Shaw, W.A.H., Felix McDermott and Raymond Golden, while she pleaded guilty to assault with intent to commit murder involving the death of veteran Russell Posey — all veterans.
When Mays pleaded guilty to the charges, Tony O'Dell, who represents many of the families of the veterans who died at Mays' hands, said his clients were pleased she had pleaded guilty.
“The families I represent are all very pleased with the resolution of the criminal charges against Reta Mays," O'Dell previously said in an interview with The West Virginia Record. "However, proper accountability does not stop there. The VA hospital in Clarksburg had a frightening number of system failures that allowed this person to kill as many people as she did."
O'Dell had said the families deserve nothing short of accountability.
"The fact that these related deaths continued to pile up shows a complete lack of competence and a total lack of human caring," O'Dell said. "For the VA to claim that unnaturally, extremely low blood sugars in mostly non-diabetics were somehow not a red flag that needed to be investigated from the very start is simply beyond rational belief. The victims’ will march on to get answers and accountability in the civil lawsuits. These families and West Virginia’s veterans deserve nothing less."
In October, the families of six of the veterans who died at Mays' hands reached tentative settlements in their federal cases.
The settlements range from $700,000 to $975,000, with the family of Russell Posey Sr. receiving $700,000, the family of Felix Kirk McDermott receiving $775,000, the family of Robert Lee Kozul Sr.. receiving $775,000, the family of John W. Hallman receiving $950,000 and the family of George Nelson Shaw Sr. receiving $975,000, according to court documents.
