Manslaughter Charge Dismissed In Death Of Elderly Woman Left On Bus

A Tulsa County judge dismissed a second-degree manslaughter charge against a nursing facility employee in an elderly woman's death. Johnathan Kendrick was charged after Mary Schlecht was found dead in a bus at Brookdale Assisted Living in August 2016.

Schlecht, 84, had gone on an activity and was found dead in the bus the next day. The medical examiner ruled the death an accident with the cause of death being hyperthermia. The temperature that weekend was in the mid-90s.

Kendrick was employed as a maintenance man and bus driver at the facility, court records show.

Defense attorney Shena E. Burgess filed a motion in which she argued that actions by several people contributed to the elderly woman not being discovered until the next day. She said the death was a case of "a perfect storm of events resulting in a horrible accident" and that Kendrick performed his duties with usual and ordinary care. 

11/15/2016 Related Story: ME: Tulsa Woman Left On Nursing Home Bus Died Of Hyperthermia

She said the state had not proved its case that a crime had been committed.

Judge James Caputo granted the defense attorney's motion and dismissed the charge against Kendrick on Monday, May 1. Schlecht's daughter has filed a civil case against the facility.