Local woman accused of trying to kill her mother

Abington, Pa. (WTXF) - A local woman is accused of trying to kill her own mother. According to police, she injected her mom with insulin "in hopes of putting her mother at peace and ending her suffering".

It's every grown child's worst nightmare, watching an elderly parent suffering from an illness in a hospital or nursing home. Abington police say when 50-year-old Donna Horger couldn't bear to watch her mother, Mary, suffer anymore she allegedly injected her with insulin hoping she'd pass away.

"It's a very sad, tragic set of circumstances," Horger's attorney Fortunato Perri Jr. told FOX 29 Wednesday night.

Police say Horger stands charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment after she injected her 74-year-old mother on three separate occasions with insulin "in hopes of putting her mother at peace and ending her suffering".

"Sometimes you are faced with the reality when that person is pleading with you and begging you to stop the suffering, stop the pain," Perri explained.

Investigators say the first injection incident happened at the Immaculate Mary Nursing Home in Philadelphia. Horger's mother was found unresponsive. She was raced to Abington Hospital and revived. According to police, three days later, while still in the hospital it happened again, then nine days later a third episode, causing police and hospital staff to investigate.

Hospital administrators told police no hospital staff injected Mary Horger and indicated someone with a medical background must have done it. Donna Horger is a pharmacist. Several days, later she was confronted by police and admitted injecting her mom three separate times, according to investigators.

"It's sad for everybody all the way around. Obviously, my client loves her mother," Perri added.

Doctors told investigators Horger's mother's dementia and osteoporosis were not life threatening, but had it not been for immediate medical attention, she could have died from the injections. Donna Horger was arraigned on the charges and released on bail. She has a preliminary hearing next week.