Man sentenced to 12 years for killing nurse in unprovoked attack at downtown LA bus stop

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A man pleaded no contest Tuesday to voluntary manslaughter for fatally striking a 70-year-old nurse in an unprovoked attack at a downtown Los Angeles bus stop last year.

Kerry Bell, who admitted he had a prior strike for assault in Texas, was immediately sentenced to 12 years in state prison. He waived credit for 698 days he had already served behind bars since his arrest shortly after the Jan. 13, 2022, attack on Sandra Shells.

Prosecutors say 70-year-old Sandra Shells was waiting for a bus to take her to her job as a nurse at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.

Bell assaulted her in an unprovoked attack. The attack happened at a bus stop at Vignes Street and Cesar Chavez Avenue, near Union Station.

Shells fell and hit her head. She died three days later at the same hospital where she had worked for 38 years.

Bell pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter. In exchange, a charge of murder was dropped.

City News Service contributed to this report.