LANSING (WWJ)- A mid-Michigan woman was convicted for a resident freezing to death while staying at the assisted living home where the defendant worked.
A Clinton County jury convicted Colleen Kelly O’Connor, 58 of East Lansing, of Vulnerable Adult Abuse-Second Degree related to the death of the victim, 82; Attorney General Dana Nessel announced in a statement released by her office.
At the time of the victim’s death, she was under O’Connor’s care at Vista Springs Imperial Park at Timber Ridge, an assisted living facility in Bath, about 14 miles north of Lansing.
The Attorney General admitted evidence during the two and a half day trial that argued: during “the very early morning hours” of December 23, 2022, O’Connor saw the victim twice try to go outside without winter clothing on in a "blizzard with single-digit temperatures, subzero windchill, and blowing and drifting snow.”
“As a caregiver, O’Connor recklessly failed to prevent the victim from going outdoors into the storm, resulting in her death,” the statement read.
Prosecutors said a snowplow driver found the victim, partially buried in snow, around 7 a.m. that morning. They do not know how long she was out in the blizzard. She was rushed to the hospital where she died from hypothermia.
“This verdict does not undo the tragic loss of life, but we hope it serves as a reminder of the immense responsibility caregivers have,” Nessel said in the statement. “I want to thank the Bath Township Police Department for their partnership during the investigation of this difficult case.”
The Attorney General’s Health Care Fraud Division, a federally funded Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for Michigan, investigated the case.
Sentencing for O’Connor is slated for July 29th.