Utah store customer dies after she was shoved; woman faces homicide charge

A woman is facing a homicide charge after she shoved a woman in a Utah store in July, causing injuries that led to the victim’s death.

Cashell Kelly Carr, 45, was charged in 3rd District Court with homicide by assault and criminal mischief, third-degree felonies.

According to charging documents, the assault that led to the death of Kathryn Wells happened July 11 at Felt Lighting at 1220 E. 3300 South. Store employees told police that Carr came in pushing a child in a wheelchair, laid down on a rug just inside the front entrance and “appeared to need assistance.” One employee gave Carr a bottle of water, and a short time later Carr got up and started hitting her 15-year-old son, who was in the wheelchair. (According to police, the boy is “nonambulatory/nonverbal autistic.”)

When an employee asked Carr to stop, she threw the water bottle and began breaking store property, causing more than $2,000 in damage. Carr then approached a store employee and Wells, “placed both hands on” her and “shoved her with extreme force.” Wells landed about 9 feet from where she was standing, and was unable to move.

Wells was taken to a hospital, where X-rays showed her pelvis was broken in three places. According to charging documents, she told police that when two other employees told Carr to leave the store, the suspect got away from them and ran up to her and started screaming obscenities in her face. Then, Wells said, Carr “shoved me with all of her power. And I just went flying. I mean, my feet were not touching the ground. I did not say a word to her, not a word, and she shoved me and I landed on the cement, tile floor.”

Wells died on July 31, 20 days after she was shoved. She was 65. After performing an autopsy, the state medical examiner ruled her death a homicide — her cause of death was congestive heart failure exacerbated by pelvic fractures suffered when she was assaulted by Carr.

According to police, Carr said, “I just feel bad because I kind of lost it because I haven’t eaten for days and I’m probably in big trouble because I lost it.” The suspect’s husband told police that Carr is “bipolar/manic” and had recently been hospitalized for “mental health issues.”

Carr was arrested Tuesday in Tennessee, and is awaiting extradition back to Utah.