LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Las Vegas woman has been sentenced to up to 20 years in prison for pushing a 74-year-old man off a stopped bus and causing his death.
Under a plea agreement and the sentence imposed Friday by a state District Court judge, Cadesha Bishop must serve at least eight years in prison before being eligible for parole.
Bishop, 28, pleaded guilty Dec. 27 to a reduced charge of abuse of an older or vulnerable person resulting in death.
Bishop was originally charged with murder in the death of Serge Fournier, who died about a month after he landed on his head on a sidewalk about 8 feet (2.4 meters) from the bus following a March 2019 encounter.
According to police, Bishop used both of her hands to push Fournier as he went to exit the bus at a stop after witnesses heard him tell Bishop, who had been yelling obscenities on the bus, “to be nicer to passengers.”
Police said Fournier never touched any of the steps of the bus after being pushed, and the Clark County Coroner’s Office ruled his death a homicide.
A police report said Bishop grabbed her son’s hand and walked away from the bus without offering help but that police were able to later locate and arrest her.
Bishop told Judge Tierra Jones during Friday’s hearing that she was unfairly portrayed in the media, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
“I’m sorry for my behavior,” Bishop said. “I’m sorry for the way that I was portrayed in my lowest and weakest moment of my life.”
Bishop told Jones that other judges previously indicated she could be a candidate for probation. She asked to be referred to “some type of program” and said she pleaded guilty because she felt she would not receive a fair deal otherwise.
Jones said Bishop could apply for different programs while in prison, but that she was going to sentence her under the plea deal.
“The actions in this case make you not a probation candidate,” Jones said.
Defense attorney Stephen Spelman told Jones that Bishop had mental health issues.
“While never minimizing the pain of the family’s loss, of course, nor being an excuse, it certainly helps me understand a little more how this tragedy might have come about,” he said.
No relatives spoke on the victim’s behalf at the hearing.
