Cadesha Bishop: Woman who pushed 74-year-old man off public bus causing his death is sentenced to prison
Serge Fournier initially survived the fall but died of injuries a month later
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A 28-year-old woman who was charged with murder for pushing a 74-year-old man off a public bus in Las Vegas has been sentenced to prison as part of a plea agreement.
Cadesha Bishop was sentenced to eight to 20 years in prison on Friday, nearly two months after pleading guilty to the abuse of an older person resulting in substantial bodily harm or death.
Bishop was arrested by the Las Vegas police and initially charged with murder for pushing the elderly man, identified as Serge Fournier, off a bus in 2019.
Surveillance video released a few days after the incident showed Fournier exiting the bus with a metal cart when Bishop shoved him from behind. He fell through the bus doors and fell face-first on the cart he was carrying.
According to fellow passengers and witnesses, Bishop had been shouting profanities at other passengers before Fournier interceded and asked her “to be nicer”.
After the push, she walked away without offering to help the senior citizen, witnesses said.
Fournier initially survived the fall, but died of the injuries a month later. His death was ruled as a homicide by officials at the Clark County Coroner-Medical Examiner.
During Friday’s sentencing hearing, Bishop said she was “sorry for my behaviour” and slammed “the way that I was portrayed in my lowest and weakest moment of my life”.
Bishop said she pleaded guilty because she felt she would not receive a fair deal otherwise, The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
Stephen Spelman, Bishop’s attorney, said that the woman suffers from bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Bishop was given credit for the 252 days of time served and would be eligible for parole in eight years.
Trevor Taylor, a neighbour of Fournier’s, told local media: “No matter what his age, she should not have done that. People need a little more patience than what they have these days.”