A Las Vegas woman who admitted to pushing an elderly man off a bus to his death in 2019 was sentenced to prison on Friday as part of a plea deal.
Cadesha Bishop, 28, was sentenced to eight to 20 years in jail after the incident that claimed the life of 74-year-old Serge Fournier.
Bus surveillance video from March 21, 2019, shows Bishop arguing with Fournier after the elderly man asked her to be nicer to other passengers.
Bishop can then be seen pushing Fournier when he turned his back to exit the bus, causing him to fall onto the sidewalk below. Fournier was taken to a hospital but died a month later.
His death was ruled a homicide resulting from blunt force trauma to the torso, according to the Clark County Coroner-Medical Examiner's Office.
Bishop was initially charged with murder and released on a $100,000 bond on May 16, 2019.
Her bail was revoked in 2021 after she was charged with grand larceny, with prosecutors arguing she stole a 2020 Chevrolet Impala from a rental car company.
Bishop claimed she lent the rental car to someone and they failed to return it.
Court records also show that Bishop was convicted twice, in 2014 and 2015, of misdemeanor domestic battery charges.
The prosecution downgraded the murder charge to abuse of an elderly person resulting in death, and Bishop pleaded guilty on December 27.
She will be eligible for parole in eight years.
Bishop's exact sentence length is expected to be based on her behavior. Her alleged mental health history could also play a part in the parole board's decision.
Cadesha Bishop, 28, was sentenced to eight to 20 years in jail after admitting to pushing 74-year-old Serge Fournier off a public bus to his death in 2019
During his sentencing hearing on Friday, Bishop (pictured center in 2019) said she entered the plea bargain because she didn't think she would receive a fair deal otherwise
Serge Fournier hit his head on a sidewalk during the 2019 incident and the Clark County coroner ruled his death a homicide resulting from his injuries a month later
During her sentencing hearing on Friday, Bishop said she entered the plea bargain because she didn't think she would receive a fair deal otherwise.
She will be given credit for the 252 days of time served.
Bishop said she was 'sorry for [her] behavior' during the 'lowest and weakest moment of [her] life,' NBC reported.
Her attorney added that she suffered from Bipolar Disorder and PTSD.
Bishop will face a jury trial in April to address her pending grand larceny charge.
A police report says Fournier was moving up the aisle of the Regional Transportation Commission bus just before 5 p.m. on March 21, 2019, when he asked a woman who had been cursing at other people to be nicer to passengers, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
Bishop entered a plea deal with the prosecution and was sentenced to eight to 20 years in jail
Fournier allegedly told Cadesha Bishop to stop shouting and cursing at fellow passengers as he walked down the aisle of the Regional Transportation Commission bus
Serge Fournier was shoved from a bus in Las Vegas on March 21, 2019, and died of his injuries just over a month later
In video footage released by Las Vegas police, Fournier could be seen falling face first into the sidewalk after being pushed from the vehicle
Bishop was accused of shoving Fournier out the door 'with enough force that he never touched any of the steps' before hitting his head about eight feet from the bus.
According to the arrest report, witnesses saw her walking away from the bus without offering Fournier help, grabbing her son’s hand and leading him away.
In the CCTV clip taken from the bus' security cameras, Bishop can be seen talking to Fournier as he walked past carrying a walker and heading toward the door.
Then, as his back was turned, she violently shoved him with both hands, sending the elderly man crashing down the steps head first.
According to the arrest report, Bishop walked away from the bus without offering Fournier help, leaving him injured on the sidewalk
The incident happened at 13th and Fremont streets in Las Vegas, Nevada. The stop and a RTC city bus on that route are pictured in this image
Bishop was identified in part because of a 'Love' emblem on her jacket and her son's distinctive Spider-Man backpack, police said in 2019.
'No matter what his age, she should not have done that. People need a little more patience than what they have these days,' said the man's neighbor, Trevor Taylor, in 2019.
Taylor asserted that Fournier was a 'wonderful person' and shared that he would never forget his friend.
'He was an excellent neighbor. Very nice, religious person,' he added.
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