What to Know
- A grand jury indictment unsealed charges an anesthesiologist with murder in the death of a 71-year-old plastic surgery patient.
- Stephen Kyo-Sung Kim, 54, pleaded not guilty to the charge stemming from the Sept. 26, 2017, death of the patient, Dr. Mark Greenspan.
- The grand jury indictment was handed up last Thursday, and supersedes the initial case.
A grand jury indictment unsealed Thursday charges an anesthesiologist with murder in the death of a 71-year-old plastic surgery patient in Beverly Hills nearly a year ago.
Stephen Kyo-Sung Kim, 54, pleaded not guilty to the charge stemming from the Sept. 26, 2017, death of the patient, Dr. Mark Greenspan. Kim was initially charged last year with murder involving Greenspan's death and had been awaiting a hearing to determine if there was enough evidence to require him to stand trial.
The grand jury indictment was handed up last Thursday, and supersedes the initial case. While working at the Rodeo Drive Plastic Surgery Center in Beverly Hills, Kim administered medicine to sedate Greenspan before surgery.
He is accused of injecting himself with drugs during the procedure, then giving Greenspan a lethal dose of Demerol while the patient was in a recovery room, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. Greenspan went into cardiac arrest and died soon afterward, prosecutors said. Beverly Hills police said paramedics attempted life-saving measures after responding to a 911 call of a patient not breathing.
The case stemmed from a three-month investigation by Beverly Hills police, with assistance from the California Medical Board and the District Attorney's Office. Kim, who was ordered last year not to practice medicine during the duration of the case, is due back in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom Sept. 19 for a pretrial hearing. He could face up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted as charged, according to the District Attorney's Office.
