A 25-year-old woman from the American city of Las Vegas is facing murder charges after a horrific incident that resulted in the death of 74-year-old Serge Fournier.
The incident that occurred on March 21 was captured on CCTV from inside the bus and initially begins with the attacker, Cadesha Bishop, arguing with a number of people on the bus including a group of senior citizens.
As the bus came to a halt and passengers began to disembark, it is alleged that victim, Serge Fournier, told the argumentative woman to “be nicer to the other passengers,” as he attempted to exit the bus, which is when tragedy struck.
An irate Ms. Bishop responded to Mr. Fourneir’s words by violently shoving the elderly gentleman in the back, causing him to hurtle down the stairs of the bus and land face down on the concrete pavement at a local bus stop.
Shockingly, attacker Cadesha Bishop was actually with one of her children at the time of the incident, and she then fled the scene without any concern for the welfare of the elderly man who was obviously severely injured.
The 74-year-old victim was left bleeding from the head after the attack but initially refused medical attention when emergency services arrived, but according to neighbours Mr. Fournier was in a lot of pain after the incident and eventually transported himself to the hospital where he died from his injuries a month later.
An autopsy later revealed that Mr. Fournier had died as a result of the complications from blunt force injuries to his body that were sustained in the bus attack, which prompted the coroner to rule the 74-year-old’s death a homicide.
Attacker, Cadesha Bishop, was arrested on May 6 and charged with murder after being identified by the public due to her distinct jacket and her son’s Spider-Man backpack and she is currently scheduled to face the judge on May 23 for a preliminary hearing to her murder trial.
What Next?
While there is absolutely no excuse for the selfish and evil actions of the woman who killed Mr. Fournier, the sadness and outrage that has been sparked worldwide due to the nature of this crime can serve as a reminder to everyone of just how frail a number of older people can be, and the need for younger members of society share the responsibility of their welfare.
People over the age of 65 experience a significant loss of muscle mass and bone density which make them highly susceptible to physical injury, in fact, this physical deterioration is so severe that very old people can experience bruising from simply being lifted into bed as a result of the frailty of their blood vessels.
While the physical demeanor of an elderly person should provide enough insight into their level of capability and frailty, it can still be hard for some members of the community to fathom just how much care needs to be taken when older people are in their immediate vicinity.
The physical ramifications of what many of us would deem to be a ‘slight knock’ or simply falling over can have fatal consequences for an older person, and a little bit of physical movement and a lack of awareness from a younger person can be all that it takes for something bad to happen.
One of the saddest things about this horrible incident is the fact that nobody on that bus was doing anything to curb the abusive behaviour of Cadesha Bishop before she pushed the victim, and nobody seemed to do anything after she the incident either as she managed to escape the scene.
While clearly not everyone on the bus would have had the physical or mental capacity to stand up to Ms. Bishop, there definitely would have been some people that had the capability but chose not to intervene.
We as a society need to occasionally unplug our headphones, put down our smartphones, and understand that even though we no longer have to engage with the world around us while we are out in public, we actually have a social responsibility to protect the vulnerable within our own community.
The standard of treatment that you walk past on the street is also the standard that you accept within your community, and the older members of our society need us to raise that standard.
