Gerald R. Shrum Sr. was 90 when he was a resident at Sunnyview Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Butler Township, Pennsylvania. Family described him as a lifelong farmer, U.S. military veteran, active in church and a private pilot license holder. He had been admitted after mobility problems made independent living difficult and was visited daily by his daughters.

According to court filings and criminal evidence, Shrum was given an excessive dose of insulin late on March 24, 2023, leaving him foaming at the mouth. Early on March 25, licensed practical nurse Heather Pressdee twice flushed air into his IV line, causing a fatal air embolism. Pressdee was taken into custody on May 24, 2023; prosecutors later linked her to multiple insulin attacks across western Pennsylvania and to Shrum’s homicide. During sentencing proceedings on May 2, 2024, she pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder, including Shrum’s killing, and to 19 counts of attempted murder, and was given consecutive life sentences plus additional years.