Hardel Sherrell and his mother.
BEMDJI, Minn. (KFGO) – A former Beltrami County jail nurse is now facing manslaughter charges, 7 years after Hardell Sherrell died while in custody.
Michelle Skroch, 37, is charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminal neglect. Skroch was the director of nursing for MEND Correctional Care at the jail in 2018 when Sherrell died.
The criminal complaint, filed by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison Friday, alleges that from September 1 to September 2, 2018, “Skroch failed to properly care for Mr. Sherrell while he was in the custody of the Beltrami County Jail, and her negligent mistreatment of Mr. Sherrell resulted in his death.”
The complaint says Skroch did not take Sherrell’s vitals for two days after he returned from hospital. A doctor wrote that Sherrell needed to be taken to the nearest emergency room if he showed signs of increased weakness.
Skroch did not check on Sherrell for over 2 hours after coming on shift, even though he had been face-down on the floor in his cell for over 5 hours. The complaint says she ignored his pleas for medical assistance for two days. During this time, Sherrell could not move his limbs and could not hold his head up. He was pronounced dead in his cell on September 2.
A BCA agent who investigated the case wrote that Skroch was “basically screaming” at Sherrell that he was faking his ailments. Medical experts later found that Sherrell suffered from Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a progressive neurological disorder that gradually paralyzes a patient.
In 2023, Beltrami County and MEND were ordered to pay $2.6 million to Sherrell’s family after Sherrell’s mother filed a federal lawsuit in 2019. Skroch’s nursing license was revoked in 2023.
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