Russell Ross Posey Sr., a 92-year-old World War II Navy veteran, was admitted to the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center in Clarksburg, West Virginia, in June 2018 for pneumonia and spent time in intensive care before improving. On Father’s Day, June 17, family members found him alert and reminiscing and he was moved out of ICU. The next morning his blood sugar plunged to about 14 and he became unconscious; he was not diabetic. Posey survived the hypoglycemic crisis for roughly two weeks and died at the VA medical center at 1:50 a.m. on July 3, 2018. His body was exhumed July 17 for an autopsy as investigators probed whether an unauthorized insulin injection had occurred.

Federal investigators concluded former VA nursing assistant Reta Mays intentionally administered insulin to multiple patients on Ward 3A. Prosecutors said they could prove she intentionally injected Posey with insulin intending to kill him but could not establish beyond the legal standard that the injection caused his death, so she was charged in his case with assault with intent to commit murder rather than murder. Mays later admitted to deliberately giving insulin to veterans in her care. Did anyone who knew Mr. Posey notice changes in his condition or care during that June hospitalization?