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Rebecca Deters with her attorney, Terry Shaw.
Defense seeking medical experts in manslaughter case.
#OceanaCountyCourtNews
By Allison Scarbrough. Editor.
HART — Defense attorney Terry Shaw told 27th Circuit Court Judge Robert D. Springstead Monday, May 22, that he is seeking medical experts in 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.
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.
The prosecution has offered a plea agreement in which Deters can 
plead to the felony homicide/manslaughter charge, and other two counts would be dismissed, said Oceana County Prosecutor Joseph Bizon. She would not have to serve more than two years in prison for her minimum sentence.
Shaw said his client will maintain a “not guilty” plea as his firm seeks assistance from medical experts, particularly on the disease, sepsis.
Bizon said that the prosecution is not “revoking or closing off negotiations” in the meantime. “I know that the case is complicated,” he said.
“It is a complex case,” said Springstead.
A motion hearing is set for June 19, and Deters was remanded back to Oceana County Jail pending the hearing. She is lodged in the Oceana County Jail on a $150,000/cash/surety/10 percent bond.
Deters, who was McCallum’s legal caregiver, “negligently failed to comply with her obligation to care for him, and that resulted in his death,” said Bizon previously.
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 was 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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