Caregiver charged in 2022 hypothermia death of woman, 82, in Bath Twp.
BATH TWP. — A staffer at an assisted living home has been criminally charged in connection with the death of an 82-year-old resident who wandered outside during a winter storm in 2022.
Colleen Kelly O'Connor, 58, faces one count of second-degree vulnerable adult abuse, a maximum four-year felony. She was arraigned Monday in Clinton County District Court, court records indicate. She posted a $5,000 surety bond. A hearing to determine whether O'Connor should stand trial on the charges was tentatively set for Dec. 7.
The state Attorney General's Office said Tuesday that O'Connor "recklessly failed to act to prevent the victim from going outdoors" on Dec. 23, 2022, at Vista Springs Imperial Park at Timber Ridge Village, on Park Lake Road.
O'Connor twice saw Lois Kathryn Cary try to go outside "without appropriate attire into a blizzard with single-digit temperatures, subzero windchill, and blowing and drifting snow," Attorney General Dana Nessel's office said, but O'Connor failed to take action to prevent the tragedy.
An attorney for O'Connor said he still hadn't seen police reports about the incident, but wonders how a single staffer was singled out by prosecutors.
"We will be aggressively fighting these charges," attorney Michael Oakes said. "She worked for that company for years without incident prior to this lady walking out of this facility, and she continued working there for almost a year after that. At no point was she ever listed as being a danger to her patients. She had been caring for individuals for the last 35 years with no complaint ever having been made against her."
Cary was found lying in the snow by a snowplow driver about 7 a.m. Dec. 23, according to police reports. A caregiver said Cary was covered by a heavy layer of drifted snow, possibly indicating she had been outside for "quite some time," the reports said. Cary died at a hospital a short time later.
The Lansing region was under a winter storm warning at the time. Blizzard conditions lasted for more than two days, with temperatures falling into the single digits and wind gusts approaching 50 mph on Dec. 23.
The AG's health care fraud division investigated the case.
Contact Ken Palmer at kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBPalm_lsj.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Caregiver charged in hypothermia death of woman, 82, at assisted living home
