Skroch was directly in charge of Sherrell’s care in the Beltrami County Jail the last two days of his life in 2018, when he became paralyzed and likely succumbed to Guillen Barre syndrome. Though Sherrell’s caregivers believed he was faking his symptoms, Skroch failed to help him, or even check his vital signs.

Skroch not only failed to take Sherrell’s vital signs, but also only observed him from a window in a hallway on the day he died, Case wrote. There, Skroch watched as Sherrell laid on a mattress while spit rolled down his cheek. Skroch told staff to give Sherrell nutrients through a straw. She did not assess him again. He died about two-and-a-half hours after she left the jail.

Skroch, “has tried, in hindsight, to characterize the scant attention she gave to (Sherrell) as falling within the acceptable standard of care,” Case wrote.

“She claims she was able to observe him at a distance, that there was no harm in not taking vital signs, that it was normal procedure to delegate personal cares to jail staff, that she was too busy to devote more time to (Sherrell) and that her treatment of him was the standard treatment for patients diagnosed as malingering.”

Skroch, “exhibited a careless disregard for her patient,” Case wrote. “This careless disregard is heightened by the fact that because he was in custody, Licensee was (Sherrell’s) only means of obtaining the medical care he required.” Skroch did not respond to a request for comment from KARE 11.

At the time of Sherrell’s death, Skroch was the director of nursing for MEnD Correctional Care, which at one point, was the largest provider of jail health care services in the state. The company was run by Dr. Todd Leonard, whom Skroch was in a romantic relationship with when Sherrell died.

MEnD has since filed for bankruptcy and is no longer in business.

Leonard had his medical license suspended in January 2022, though it was restored late last month.

In the report released Tuesday, the Nursing Board revealed that Skroch had gone before them in May 2020, but no action was taken. Even after getting what the board described as “new information” in November 2021, it still took until February and March 2023 for the case to go before the administrative law judge. Case issued her findings in September. Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office is still deciding whether to file criminal charges. Ellison has had the case since February 2023. “Our fight is far from over because there needs to be criminal accountability for Hardel’s egregious death,” said Sherrell’s mother, Del Shea Perry.