Anonymous donor creates memorial for Las Vegas bus push victim
A new tree was planted Monday morning at the East Las Vegas Community Center and a plaque installed to honor 74-year-old Serge Fournier, the Las Vegas man who died after being pushed off a bus this spring.
A Las Vegas woman, who requested anonymity, donated $545 to pay for the tree and plaque, telling the city of Las Vegas that she wasn’t related to Fournier but admired his attitude, according to Jace Radke, the spokesman for the city.
Thank you to the anonymous donor who paid for a memorial for @CityOfLasVegas resident Serge Fournier. Mr. Fournier tragically suffered fatal injuries when he was pushed off an @RTCSNV bus. Known as a kind man, a tree now grows for him at the East Las Vegas Community Center. pic.twitter.com/NNIMXtPZ8f
— Carolyn G. Goodman (@mayoroflasvegas) August 13, 2019
Witnesses told police that Cadesha Bishop, 25, pushed Fournier off the Regional Transportation Center bus on March 21, after he asked her “to be nicer to the passengers” because she was yelling profanities, according to an arrest report from the Metropolitan Police Department.
“(The donor) had watched the media coverage of the tragedy and she was very appreciative of his attitude of being kind to everyone,” Radke said. “She wanted it to be memorialized.”
Fournier died April 23 from “complications of blunt force torso injuries” and his death was ruled a homicide, according to the Clark County coroner’s office.
Bishop has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and one count of abuse of an older/vulnerable person resulting in death and battery resulting in substantial bodily harm to a victim age 60 or older. She remains on house arrest while awaiting trial, which is currently scheduled for April 2020.
The donor chose the East Las Vegas Community Center because of its proximity to Fournier’s house. Radke said he believes it’s the only memorial tree in the courtyard there.
The plaque in front of the tree calls Fournier “a compassionate man who believed in being kind to others.”
Residents can visit the tree by entering the community center and walking out the doors to the gated garden on the corner of Stewart and Eastern avenues.
Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.