Las Vegas woman accused of pushing man off bus pleads not guilty

The woman accused of killing a 74-year-old man by shoving him off a Las Vegas bus pleaded not guilty Thursday to murder and other charges related to his death.

Though he initially refused medical attention, Serge Fournier complained of pain he suffered after falling onto the bus stop concrete March 21.

Fournier’s partner of 25 years, Esther Sokes, told a grand jury she picked him up near Fremont and 13th streets, and that he looked “terrible,” was clutching his stomach and was bleeding.

“He was hurting,” Stokes testified this month. “He was in pain.”

She took him home, but he continued to talk about his injuries and discomfort and asked her to call paramedics.

Fournier died just over a month later from complications he suffered after hitting the concrete, according to testimony from a forensic pathologist made public this week.

Cadesha Bishop, 25, was initially charged with murder in Fournier’s death, and last week she was indicted on one count of abuse of an older/vulnerable person resulting in death and battery resulting in substantial bodily harm of a victim age 60 or older.

A prosecutor called her actions “completely cold and calculated,” saying she and her young son stepped over Fournier as he lay on the ground.

Bishop’s lawyers have said she did not intend to kill Fournier, and that she was “deeply saddened” by his death.

Witnesses told police Bishop yelled profanities at other passengers before Fournier told her, “You need to be nicer to other people.”

At the stop, Fournier grabbed a cart and shuffled past Bishop in an effort to exit. As the door opened, she pushed him in the back, according to the prosecutor.

Police said Fournier landed on his head about 8 feet from the bus, and Bishop walked away without offering help.

Authorities have said that when Fournier arrived at University Medical Center that night for treatment, he had suffered multiple fractured ribs.

In the hospital, Stokes said, Fournier continued to describe his pain.

“He just complained all the time about his ribs,” she said. “My ribs hurt. My ribs are hurting, and they won’t do nothing about it … He was in a lot of pain.”

Fournier died April 23 after suffering pneumonia that resulted from his injuries, according to the Clark County coroner’s office.

A Texas pathologist contracted with the coroner’s office, Satish Chundru, performed an autopsy on Fournier. Chundru told a grand jury that, along with the broken ribs and pneumonia, Fournier suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, commonly referred to as COPD, as a result of smoking, along with a diseased kidney, “mildly enlarged heart and a blocked artery that had the potential to cause a heart attack.”

The pathologist ruled Fournier died of blunt force torso injuries, while pneumonia was “the most immediate cause for his death,” adding that rib fractures were a “pretty big risk factor” for developing pneumonia.

Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.