Caregiver Bound Over to Face Trial in Freezing Death of Elderly Woman

Today, Colleen Kelly O’Connor, 58, of East Lansing, was bound over to face trial in the 29th Circuit Court in Clinton County on one count of Second-Degree Vulnerable Adult Abuse, announced Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. O’Connor was charged in November in connection to the December 2022 death by exposure of an 82-year-old woman. The charge is a 4-year felony.

At the time she died, the victim was under O’Connor’s care at Vista Springs Imperial Park at Timber Ridge, an assisted living facility in Clinton County where O’Connor was employed.

“Caregivers have a responsibility to act when a vulnerable person in their care faces a dangerous, potentially fatal, situation,” said Nessel. “I want to thank the Bath Township Police Department for their partnership during the investigation of this tragic case.”

The People allege that during the very early morning hours of December 23, 2022, O’Connor twice observed the victim attempt to go outside without appropriate attire into a blizzard with single-digit temperatures, subzero windchill, and blowing and drifting snow. A snowplow driver found the victim in the parking lot around 7 a.m., partially buried in snow. It is unknown precisely how long she was outside before she was found. The victim was transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital but died due to hypothermia shortly after arrival.

The charge against O’Connor alleges that, as a caregiver, O’Connor recklessly failed to act to prevent the victim from going outdoors into the storm, resulting in her death.

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Caregiver Bound Over to Face Trial in Freezing Death of Elderly Woman