This is the third in a four-part series on the life and death of Hays resident Karen Schumacher, who died at the hands of her husband in 2022.
Part 1: A Voice for Karen: Living behind a curtain of silence
Part 2: A Voice for Karen: Leaving and going back
SEE RELATED STORY: Hays man who killed wife sentenced to 10 years in prison
If you are a victim of domestic violence, find help here
By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
On March 21, 2022, an employee told Kayci Schumacher police officers and an ambulance were at her mother-in-law, Karen Schumacher, and father-in-law, Jay Schumacher's, home in Hays.
Kayci contacted her husband immediately.
Jeremiah, Karen's son, tried to call his dad, Jay, but he didn’t answer.
“As I pulled up, I looked at the officer and asked, ‘Is my mom dead?’” Jeremiah said.
Jeremiah was directed to Hays Medical Center. His father was already in custody and was being questioned by police.
"I got to the hospital and got questioned by the detective for what seemed like an eternity. I bet you it was a solid hour or so before I was ever able to see what was going on with my mom," Jeremiah said.
Jeremiah, as well as the autopsy report, said Karen had multiple cuts and bruises across her face and body. She appeared to have been punched or kicked in the teeth, Jeremiah said, adding she appeared to be bruised from head to toe.
"I went back to see her getting worked on. The doctor said she was not good. I said, 'Is she going to make it?' He said, 'It's bad. She's not in a good place.'"
His mother died at 9:03 a.m. the following day.
“I hate to say it, but I kind of expected it,” Jeremiah said.
"That was one thing that mom always said. 'If I die in a weird way, look around because I have things to implicate your dad hidden throughout the house,'" he said.
During the police interrogation of Jay, which was shown during his preliminary hearing, he said, "I didn't hit her any harder than I usually do," and he whipped his hand through the air.
He also commented that his wife was going to die anyway, alluding to her diminished mental capacity.
Jay N. Schumacher was initially charged with first-degree murder.
The day that Karen died was not an ending. It was the start of grief and court battles that continue more than two years after her death.
Jeremiah was not initially allowed, as Karen’s son and only child, to take custody of her remains.
“He wouldn’t let me take her and have her cremated like she wanted,” Jeremiah said.
Jay wanted his sister to handle Karen's funeral arrangements. "I said, 'No! That's my mom,'" Jeremiah said.
Karen's Law
A battle over his mother’s estate also ensued. Jay would have inherited all of Karen’s half of the couple’s assets.
The Kansas Slayer Law prohibits people convicted of feloniously killing another person from inheriting or taking any part of the deceased's estate.
However, Jay had yet to be convicted of his wife’s murder. This left him free to disperse or dispose of the couple’s assets to support his defense.
“Karen’s Law,” which was signed into law in spring 2023, closed the loophole in the Kansas probate law, making it unlawful for anyone charged with killing someone to benefit from their estate.
Sadly, this bill did not benefit Jeremiah Schumacher, as the law was not retroactive.
Jeremiah filed a lawsuit in 2024 against Jay for $10,000 in reimbursement for his mother’s funeral expenses and $250,000 in non-economic damages in connection to his mother’s death.
That case is in mediation and is scheduled for a status conference on Feb 11.
The emotional toll on Karen’s family and friends is impossible to put a price tag on.
After his mother's death, Jeremiah, an outwardly tough guy who works in construction, retreated to his room, his oldest two children said.
“It has been the hardest on him,” Ella said of her dad, “because it happened to him too. He had to live through it.”
Carrying the Schumacher name
Ella, 16, and Ben, 19, the oldest of Karen’s grandchildren were interviewed by the Hays Post with the permission of their parents.
Both of the children said Jay’s arrest made them the target of bullies and unwanted attention.
Ben said it was difficult to carry the Schumacher name. He went to the gym, and the other guys taunted him.
Ella said her classmates watched the court hearings via Zoom on their iPads during class at school.
“‘Don’t you know this is Ella’s grandpa,’” Ella said, her classmates taunted.
“Not good,” she said. “It’s not like I wanted to be related to that.”
Ella said her peers focused on Karen's death and not her grandmother as a person.
"They only talked about the fact that she died and the fact that happened and not how she felt through their entire relationship," Ella said, "and how scared she probably was and what was going on in her head."
Because of the family's strained relationship, Ben and Ella said they didn't have much time to spend with their grandmother.
“I will just randomly think about it a lot and get super sad about it,” Ella said. “I just wish I would have known her more. He took that away from us. We never got to know her because of Jay.”
She added, “I just want her to be remembered in a good way by people, not for what she was known as after it happened.”
Remembering Karen
Jeremiah and Kayci's youngest children are 4-year-old twins. They will never get to know their grandmother in life.
However, Kayci said in some ways they know her more than the other grandchildren through the positive stories they have been told about her.
Jeremiah related how he wanted his mother to be remembered.
“As the fun, loving person she was with the outgoing smile and that hideous cackle that I miss,” Jeremiah said of her laugh.
Scarlett Deutscher, her good friend, said she felt years of friendship were stolen from her.
“That was what we were supposed to do when we got older. Her and I were supposed to do old-lady trips or follow the grandkids, you know, spend time together. That’s been taken away,” she said.
Deutscher wants Karen's legacy to be one of love.
“I would just let [the grandkids] know that I know she loved them," Deutscher said. "She wished she could spend more time with them. She would, just like me, spoil the grandkids and let them know she loved them, and she would do anything for them to protect them to love on them.
“I want her grandkids to know that Karen was a great lady, the best friend that anyone could have. She would do anything for anybody. She loved hard on everybody.”
Today is Karen's birthday. She would have been 63.
Editor's note: Scarlett Deutscher is an employee of Eagle Media, which is the parent company of the Hays Post.
How to get help
If you are a survivor of domestic or sexual violence, you can receive help in a variety of ways. You can walk into an Options office at 2716 Plaza, Hays, or 1480 W. Fourth, Colby. You can call Options' 24-hour helpline at 1-800-794-4624 or text HOPE to 847411.
The Options website, https://help4abuse.org/, offers a live chat option or video conference with an advocate.
The website has a safe escape button that allows you to quickly close out of the website and erase your cookies, so anyone who is on the computer after you will not be able to see that you have been on the website.
Options has a free app for Android and Apple devices called "My Mobile Options."