LANSING, MI — A Clinton County judge sentenced an East Lansing woman to two years probation, with the first six months spent in jail, for her role in the 2022 death of an 82-year-old lady.
Colleen Kelly O’Connor, 58, was found guilty of one count of second-degree Vulnerable Adult Abuse in June after the victim, who was in O’Connor’s care at the Clinton County assisted living facility Vista Springs Imperial Park at Timber Ridge, died of exposure after being left unsupervised.
According to evidence presented in court, O’Connor witnessed the victim attempt to walk outside many times without suitable clothes in a blizzard with single-digit temperatures, subzero windchill, and blowing and drifting snow on December 23, 2022.
As a caretaker, O’Connor was responsible for preventing the victim from walking outdoors into the snow, yet he failed to do so.
A snowplow driver discovered the victim partially buried in snow in the facility’s parking lot about 7 a.m. that same day, and it is unclear how long she had been outside before being discovered. She was carried to a hospital by ambulance and died of hypothermia shortly after arriving.
Following an investigation by the Bath Township Police Department and the Department of Attorney General, O’Connor was arrested and charged on November 21, 2023.
In addition to jail time and probation, O’Connor will be required to pay $1,115.00 in reparations to the victim’s daughter.
