The last family photo of the Yates before Kim Yates passed. The Yates children, Megan and Zachary, were 17 when Kim Yates took her life. They are twins.
Contributed by Scott Nutter
After two years of litigation and a two-week trial that concluded in June, Chris Yates feels like he can finally breathe again.
A jury found the AdventHealth Shawnee Mission hospital and two of its providers at fault in the death of Chris Yates’ wife, Kim Yates, who died of suicide three days after being released from the hospital. The jury awarded the Overland Park man $5.7 million, which is the largest in Johnson County history for a wrongful death or medical negligence case, according to the Greater Kansas City Jury Verdict Service.
“People talk about a weight lifted off you. It was more like the air was taken out of me,” Chris Yates told The Star. “Finally, you know, two and a half years of this fight is, finally, I can let it out.”
The lawsuit
On April 11, 2021, Chris Yates took Kim Yates to the Advent Shawnee Mission Medical Center emergency department. Kim Yates was experiencing anxiety and insomnia after having a stroke in November 2020, and her condition had worsened by April, according to court documents. She also reported being unable to see a path forward and feeling emotionless, according to court documents.
She had no prior significant mental or physical health history but was experiencing a mental health crisis, according to documents from the plaintiff’s law firm.
Chris Yates took his wife to the hospital after he observed her trying to take her own life, according to court documents. This was the second attempt he had observed in a week.
At Shawnee Mission Medical, Kim Yates was evaluated and deemed at high-risk for suicide, according to court documents. She was then evaluated by a licensed professional counselor, Mandy Whitehead, who recommended she be discharged home. Kim Yates’ assigned nurse practitioner, Lorene Creasser, agreed, and she was sent home with a safety plan that required her to not be left alone and for the family to install screens on the window, according to court documents.
Three days later, Kim Yates took her own life in the same manner Chris Yates had witnessed in her attempt days earlier.
The Yates family in Alaska Photo contributed by the Shamberg, Johnson & Bergman law firm
The licensed professional counselor testified she had spent two to three hours evaluating Kim Yates, but Chris Yates’ attorneys discovered through badge access logs and video footage that she spent 29 minutes or less.
Chris Yates and his attorneys argued that the counselor and nurse practitioner were at fault because they failed to provide proper care and admit Kim Yates for behavioral health treatment. They argued that had Kim Yates been admitted, her mental health condition would have improved.
Defense attorneys argued that the providers met the standard of care and would have deemed Kim Yates high risk had she been truthful about her thoughts of taking her own life.
A spokesperson for AdventHealth said: “Our hearts go out to everyone affected in this case; and our prayers remain with the family. We are unable to respond to the details of this case due to the legal nature of this matter. We can share, however, we are disappointed with the outcome and stand behind our providers, who are deeply committed to the health and well-being of our patients.”
Chris and Kim Yates Photo contributed by Shamberg, Johnson & Bergman law firm
Kim Yates: 1971-2021
Chris Yates said Kim Yates was out of his league. She was beautiful, smart and outgoing and the more he got to know her, the more he wanted to be around her. He said she had a spark about her that everyone was drawn to.
“She took me along for the ride is the way I say it,” Chris Yates said.
As a young couple, the Yates lived in Chicago so Kim Yates could attend Northwestern University for a master’s degree. They then moved to Cincinnati, where Kim Yates got a job at Procter & Gamble. There, their two children, twins Zachary and Megan, were born. The family then spent three years in New York City, where Kim was vice president of marketing for Prestige Beauty.
From Missouri, the family eventually came back to the Kansas City area. Kim’s last job was vice president of marketing at Russell Stover Chocolates.
Chris Yates said Kim Yates put care into everything she did. He said if Kim Yates was planning something, it was going to be perfect. Kim Yates took the kids to musicals, museums, and baseball stadiums. She also made sure they knew how to ski and play sports, and she enrolled them in the best schools.
“After Kim passed away, I took my kids on a trip up the coast of California,” Chris Yates said. “The first hotel we got to, my daughter said, ‘Mom would have never booked this place.’”
‘A fight worth fighting’
Kim, Zachary and Megan Yates in front of the Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy. Kim Yates liked taking her kids on trips. Contributed by the Shamberg, Johnson & Bergman law firm.
Kim Yates died in 2021 at age 49. Chris Yates said he was “consumed with what had happened at the hospital a couple days before,” but he didn’t file the lawsuit until a couple years later because his priority was getting his kids, Megan and Zachary, through high school and into college. Megan and Zachary Yates were 17 at the time of their mom’s death.
Chris Yates said his son Zachary told him that “Mom would be doing it for any of us if she was still here and the roles were reversed.” Chris Yates said he and his family agreed this was “a fight worth fighting.”
Chris Yates, Zachary Yates and Megan Yates all testified at the trial. Other friends and family also testified on Kim and Chris’ behalf. Daniel Singer, one of Chris Yates’ attorneys, said this testimony was among the most impactful he’s ever seen in court.
Zachary and Megan Yates are now 21, and Chris Yates said they weren’t going to be denied the chance to talk about their mother.
“We had talked about it, that this might happen and that they would have to get on the stand, and they were both ready,” Chris Yates said. “I mean, just the love and the passion they had for their mother.”
Singer said hearing the kids talk about their mom was really special. Both he and Scott Nutter, who also represented the family, saw Kim Yates reflected in Zachary and Megan Yates.
“The kids are just so articulate and smart and, you know, we never got the chance to meet Kim, but you can tell that that’s Kim,” Singer said.
Nutter said he had never seen anything like their testimony. After he heard Zachary and Megan answer questions from the defense team, he said he told Singer they could not lose this case for these kids.
“I’ve never seen someone of that age just be so articulate and just battling through emotions,” Nutter said. “Just almost, almost poetic.”
This was an emotional case for everyone involved, and both Singer and Nutter were deeply invested.
“I‘m the one asking Megan and Zachary these questions, and they’re in tears, and everybody in the courtroom is in tears, and I’m having to bite my bottom lip to, you know, what’s the next question and keep going,” Nutter said.
The verdict: ‘We did it’
Kim Yates with Oprah at a UNICEF event Photo contributed by Shamberg, Johnson & Bergman law firm
On June 20, after two weeks of emotionally charged testimony, exchanged arguments and sleeplessness, the final day of the trial had come. Nutter said he walked into the courtroom at 8:30 a.m. ready to give his closing argument, and the entire side of their gallery was full. Much of Chris and Kim Yates’ family, many who testified, had come to see the decision.
“I’ve never had this happen before,” Nutter said.
Arguments concluded, and it was time for the jury to deliberate. Chris Yates and his attorneys had to stay within 10 minutes of the courthouse. Chris Yates said he walked around outside the courthouse. Singer’s phone told him he walked 2.5 miles pacing around the courthouse. Nutter sat at the end of a hallway, looking out the window, at peace with whatever outcome was returned.
“I would have been colossally upset if we would have lost, and I would have been shocked,” Nutter said. “But I also felt like they did everything that they possibly could do to make this right for Kim. I felt like our team did everything we could do.”
After four and a half hours, the jury came back. They handed the verdict form to the judge. The first question was, “Do you find any of the parties to be at fault?” The judge then read, “Yes.” Chris Yates said he didn’t hear anything after that and turned around and gave his son a hug.
“I had asked these guys two days later about the money, because I didn’t even hear it,” Chris Yates said. “I heard the verdict of, you know, that they found fault, and that’s all I needed to hear.”
The money awarded to him was $5.7 million. However, Kansas law caps noneconomic damages for wrongful death cases, like pain and suffering, at $250,000. Nutter said Yates was awarded $1 million in noneconomic damages, so that will be reduced by $750,000. Nutter said they will challenge the constitutionality of the cap if there is an appeal.
Singer said when he saw Chris Yates hear the verdict, it was palpable how important it was to him and his family.
“I could feel him almost kind of slump out of relief and just out of vindication,” Singer said. “I kind of put my hand on his leg, and just sort of gave him a nudge, like, ‘we did it.’
“This case was so hard fought and so emotional and so difficult. I think that everything was elevated to the point where you could sense the tension, and then you could sort of feel it evaporate,” Singer said.
Chris Yates said the next step for his family is the graduation of his kids, who are going to be seniors at the University of Missouri and Texas Christian University. He’s not sure what’s in store for himself.
“This was such a big moment circled on my calendar that I hadn’t given much thought to what, you know, what if afterwards,” Chris Yates said. “So for me, it’s, I think I’m just going to take a deep breath and, you know, take everything one step at a time now.”
This story was originally published July 2, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
