A Nevada woman was arrested and charged with killing an elderly man after shoving him off a bus.
Witnesses said that Cadesha Bishop, 25, shoved Serge Fournier, 74, out of a bus in downtown Las Vegas in March after he told her to “be nicer” to other passengers, reported the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Fournier was in the process of exiting the bus with his walker when Bishop pushed him. Fournier fell and hit his head on the concrete sidewalk and died on April 23 in a hospice. A coroner ruled that he died from complications from blunt force injuries and ruled the death a homicide.
Bishop had been shouting profanities at other passengers when Fournier admonished her and requested that she be nicer. Witnesses said that after pushing Fournier, she walked away without offering him help.
74-year old Serge Fournier died after he was pushed off a bus. Police arrested a 25-year old woman and charged her with murder. Witnesses say Fournier told the woman “Be nicer to passengers.” @News3LV pic.twitter.com/PYlv02NDdq
— Antonio Castelan (@AntonioNews3LV) May 9, 2019
The woman pushed Fournier “with enough force that he never touched any of the steps” on the bus, according to the police report. “His head landed approximately eight feet from the bus doorway.”
Bishop was identified through surveillance records and public transportation records. Detectives spoke to the father of her son, who said that he was no longer with her because “she is too violent.”
Bishop was contacted on May 3 and agreed to meet with detectives, police told the Las Vegas Sun. She didn’t show up. She was arrested three days later.
The suspect was booked into the Clark County Detention Center and charged with the murder of an older person.
Trevor Taylor, who lived near Fournier, told KSNV: “He was an excellent neighbor. Very nice, religious person.”
“No matter what his age, she should not have done that. People need a little more patience than what they have these days,” Taylor added.
Ken Mallen, who also knew Fournier, said that he leaves behind a disabled wife who is struggling financially. “I know it caused several financial problems for his wife,” Mallen said.
Checlzzi Powell, another friend of Fournier, said the incident highlights that people need to respect the elderly. “He’s a little slow because his back and legs were ailing,” Powell said.
Crime Statistics
Crime declined in the first half of 2018 compared to the first half of 2017, the FBI said in February. Preliminary statistics show nearly all offenses in the violent crime category declined. Robbery offenses decreased 12.5 percent, murder and nonnegligent manslaughter offenses decreased 6.7 percent, and aggravated assault offenses declined 2 percent, the agency said. Rapes, however, increased by 0.6 percent.
When comparing data from the first six months of 2018 with the first six months of 2017, all property crime categories showed a decrease. Burglaries were down 12.7 percent, larceny-thefts decreased 6.3 percent, and motor vehicle thefts declined 3.3 percent. The full 2018 crime report will be released later this year.
The FBI previously said that both violent crime and property crime decreased in 2017, the last year that full statistics are available for, compared to 2016.
Overall violent crime decreased 0.2 percent from 2016 to 2017, while property crime decreased 3 percent during that time, the agency said in September 2018, releasing data from the previous year.
“There were more than 1.2 million violent crimes reported to UCR nationwide in 2017. There was a 0.7 percent decrease in murders and a 4 percent decrease in robberies from 2016 to 2017. Aggravated assaults increased by 1 percent in 2017. The FBI began collecting data solely on an updated rape definition last year, and 135,755 rapes were reported to law enforcement in 2017,” the FBI stated.
“The report also showed there were more than 7.7 million property crimes last year. Burglaries decreased 7.6 percent and larceny-thefts decreased by 2.2 percent. Motor vehicle thefts increased by 0.8 percent from 2016 to 2017.”
The figures were compiled from more than 13,000 law enforcement agencies around the United States that submitted their crime data to the FBI.