Police say medical findings, witness accounts and the circumstances at a Colorado Springs home were reviewed before Kim Johnston was arrested.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — More than 13 months separated the death of an elderly woman found unresponsive outside her Colorado Springs home and the arrest of her daughter, a delay police have attributed to the work required to build a negligent-death case from medical evidence, caretaker history and conflicting accounts of what happened.
Son Johnston died after emergency crews responded to the 2900 block of Hayman Terrace shortly after noon July 15, 2025. Her daughter and caretaker, Kim Johnston, was not arrested that day. Investigators continued working the case through the following year, ultimately obtaining an arrest warrant Aug. 25, 2026. Johnston was taken into custody Sept. 3. Police said such investigations can require officers to wait for final medical findings, examine the full circumstances, establish probable cause and submit the evidence to prosecutors to decide whether criminal charges are supportable.
The investigation began with what was reported as an unresponsive elderly woman outside a residence near Pikes Peak Avenue and South Circle Drive. Medical personnel transported Son Johnston toward a hospital after finding her near the sidewalk. She suffered cardiac arrest during the emergency response and later died. Police initially identified her as 91. Later reporting based on arrest documents described her as 92, a discrepancy that has not been publicly clarified. What remained consistent in the reports was that she was an elderly woman with serious mobility limitations who depended substantially on others for care.
By the time officers reconstructed the morning, the conditions outside had become central to the case. Son Johnston had a broken hip and could not simply walk into the yard, court records said. Kim Johnston told investigators that she opened the door and her mother crawled outside after an argument over the older woman’s desire to leave the house. She wore long pants and multiple layers on her upper body, including a cardigan and sweater, while temperatures were in the upper 80s. Other reports described the heat as reaching about 90 degrees.
The daughter’s explanation of what happened over the next several hours also drew scrutiny. Johnston told investigators she gave her mother a bottle of water and an umbrella for shade, then remained in other parts of the property and checked on her only once or twice. During those checks, she said, her mother appeared to be positioned awkwardly because of her hip and was breathing heavily. The daughter also told investigators the older woman did not drink the water, possibly because she lacked the strength, and did not use the umbrella.
The emergency call came only after Son Johnston called out for help, according to court records. Kim Johnston told the dispatcher that her mother had been wanting to go outside and had been difficult through the night, and she described her as appearing dehydrated or possibly unconscious. Investigators said Johnston nevertheless indicated that she did not consider the situation urgent. When medics arrived, she told them her mother had fallen earlier and had been lying on rocks in the yard. Those statements became part of the evidence investigators compared with the physical scene.
Responders reported that they could not find some of the items Johnston said she had left with her mother. They saw no water bottle, chair or source of shade near Son Johnston, according to arrest documents. The older woman was found in direct sunlight. At the hospital, her temperature was measured at 101.8 degrees shortly before 1 p.m. The autopsy documented evidence of significant sun exposure. Those medical findings provided investigators with evidence beyond the initial 911 call as they considered whether an alleged failure to provide adequate care could support a criminal case.
Police were also aware of an earlier caretaker concern. According to arrest records, Kim Johnston had been warned about a month before her mother’s death not to leave the older woman unattended for lengthy periods. That warning followed a separate episode in which Son Johnston allegedly remained on a floor for more than six hours after a fall. The earlier contact did not establish criminal responsibility for what happened in July, but it gave investigators evidence that authorities had previously addressed the risks of leaving the mother without assistance.
The autopsy added complexity instead of producing an immediate, simple answer. The El Paso County Coroner’s Office classified Son Johnston’s manner of death as an accident, while noting that the classification could be changed if additional information emerged. The existence of that accidental classification did not end the police investigation. Criminal investigators and prosecutors continued examining whether Johnston’s alleged conduct could satisfy Colorado’s standards for a homicide offense or an offense involving an at-risk person, even with the coroner’s original manner-of-death finding in the record.
When police finally announced the arrest, local reports used somewhat different descriptions of the filed counts. Colorado Springs police and court reporting identified criminally negligent homicide and crimes against an at-risk person, while other court-based reporting referred to manslaughter and negligent death of an at-risk person. Subsequent coverage has continued to describe Johnston as facing a negligent-homicide charge. The precise charges are matters for the court record, and none of them amounts to a finding of guilt. Johnston is entitled to the presumption of innocence as the prosecution proceeds.
The case was originally moving toward an Oct. 1 preliminary hearing, a stage at which prosecutors could have presented evidence to establish probable cause for the case to continue. Instead, the proceeding turned to Johnston’s present mental competency. Her lawyer told the court that Johnston has schizophrenia and was not competent to assist in her own defense. Judge Catherine Mitchell Helton granted a request for an expert evaluation, meaning the prosecution’s evidence from the yearlong death investigation will not yet be tested at the preliminary-hearing stage.
The same hearing produced a change in Johnston’s custody conditions. Her bond was lowered from $4,000 to $2,500 after her attorney argued that she had deep local ties, had lived at the property since moving to Colorado in 1972 and had worked for Goodwill for decades. Several co-workers attended in support. Johnston nevertheless remained jailed as of the following day. The competency issue now controls the immediate timetable rather than the question of whether prosecutors have enough evidence to advance the homicide case.
More than a year after police began with an emergency response outside a home, the investigation has therefore reached court without yet reaching a hearing on the substance of the allegations. An expert evaluation must first address whether Johnston can understand the proceedings and assist her attorney. Her next court date is set for Nov. 19. Until the competency question is resolved, the medical findings, caretaker history, disputed account of the outdoor conditions and reasons for the delayed arrest remain allegations and evidence awaiting fuller examination in court.
Author note: Last updated October 20, 2026.