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Deters
Hesperia woman charged with homicide-involuntary manslaughter for disabled man’s death.
#OceanaCountyNews #Hesperia
By Allison Scarbrough. Editor.
HART — A 40-year-old Hesperia woman has been charged with homicide-involuntary manslaughter for the Jan. 4, 2017 death of a 55-year-old disabled man, Scott McCallum.
Rebecca Ann Deters, of 5030 E. Loop Rd., faces up to 15 years in prison for the felony, and she is also charged with misdemeanors of failure to report the discovery of a dead body and attempted removal of a dead body without the medical examiner’s permission.
Deters is lodged in the Oceana County Jail on a $150,000/cash/surety bond.
Deters was McCallum’s legal caregiver, said Oceana County Prosecutor Joseph Bizon. “She negligently failed to comply with her obligation to care for him, and that resulted in his death,” Bizon said.
Deters cared for bedridden McCallum, who suffered from multiple sclerosis, in his son’s home, Bizon said. She was in a relationship with his son, Dean McCallum, who has been incarcerated in the Ottawa County Jail on charges unrelated to this incident since July of 2016. At that time, Deters took over the caregiving duties for her boyfriend’s father.
She failed to comply with her obligations under her contract for care, Bizon said. She did not report McCallum’s death right away. Police were notified two days later, Jan. 6, he said. She tried to get the funeral home to remove McCallum’s body without a medical examination.
When a person dies, if they are not attended by a doctor, the person who discovers the death has to call 911, Bizon said.
Her court file alleges that she caused McCallum’s death by “the grossly negligent failure to perform the following legal duty – providing care for a disabled individual.”
A warrant for Deters’ arrest was authorized March 31, and she was arrested by the Oceana County Sheriff’s Office April 3, according to her court file.
A preliminary exam in 78th District Court is scheduled for Monday, April 24, at 3 p.m.
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