Woman pleads not guilty to attempted murder

A Las Vegas woman pleaded not guilty to the charge of attempted murder after being accused of attempting to suffocate her father at the Idaho State Veterans Home.

Sandra L. McCarty, 55, appeared for her arraignment in person with public defender Joseph Schumacher on Thursday before 2nd District Judge Michelle Evans at the Nez Perce County Courthouse. An arraignment is when a defendant is informed of the charges.

Evans entered a not guilty plea after being indicted by a grand jury. The maximum penalty for attempted murder is 15 years in prison as well as a potential fine.

Schumacher and Nez Perce County Deputy Prosecutor Kali Jo Parker agreed to have the five-day jury trial take place in November and Evans scheduled the trial for Nov. 27.

McCarty was arrested Feb. 2 after she allegedly attempted to suffocate her father, Bob Whitlock, who was living at the Idaho State Veterans Home in Lewiston. She was found by Lewiston police officers after she left the scene.

A nurse reported that she went into the room of the 81-year-old Whitlock and allegedly saw McCarty with her hands over his nose and mouth. Whitlock allegedly told the nurse McCarty was “trying to kill him,” according to the probable cause affidavit.

McCarty told the nurse she was grabbing his face mask, referring to a continuous positive airway pressure machine. She later told detectives she was trying to get the mask on his face and he was fighting her, according to the affidavit.

Whitlick died Feb. 13, less than two weeks after the alleged attack. But he didn’t die as a result of McCarty’s actions, so she can’t be charged with murder, according to a statement from the Nez Perce County Prosecutor’s Office.

McCarty was indicted by a grand jury May 22. She was then given a summons on the indictment a few days later by a sheriff’s deputy from Clarkston County in Nevada where she lives. McCarty was given a $500,000 bond by Magistrate Judge Karin Seubert, but she bonded out of the Nez Perce County Adult Detention Center. McCarty has been attending court hearings by Zoom or in person. The indictment doesn’t change her bond status.

All the documents from the grand jury are sealed from the public.

Brewster may be contacted at kbrewster@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2297.