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Deters
Homicide-involuntary manslaughter case moves to circuit court.
#OceanaCountyNews #Hesperia
By Allison Scarbrough. Editor.
HART — The case against a 40-year-old Hesperia woman charged with homicide-involuntary manslaughter for the Jan. 4, 2017 death of a 55-year-old disabled man, Scott McCallum, has been bound over to 27th Circuit Court.
Rebecca Ann Deters, of 5030 E. Loop Rd., appeared Monday, May 1, in 78th District Court for a preliminary exam, and the court ruled that there was sufficient evidence to move the case up to the higher court.
Deters 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/10 percent 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.
This story is copyrighted © 2017, all rights reserved by Media Group 31, LLC, PO Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454. No portion of this story or images may be reproduced in any way, including print or broadcast, without expressed written consent.
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