The family of a man killed in an ambulance crash in which the driver was charged with DUI has filed a lawsuit against the company that operates the emergency vehicle and its crew.
Wilton Thomason Jr., 66, was a non-emergency patient riding unrestrained on a gurney in the rear of an ambulance when it crashed in Fairburn around 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 12, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported. Thomason was seriously injured and died at the scene.
The driver of the ambulance, 34-year-old Kevin Tirrel McCorvey of Marietta, was arrested after telling Fairburn police officers he had smoked marijuana, taken Adderall and been drinking prior to the crash, according to an incident report obtained by the AJC. McCorvey has been charged with two counts of first-degree homicide by vehicle, felony involuntary manslaughter, reckless conduct and multiple traffic offenses, online jail records show.
On Dec. 3, Thomason’s children, Terrance and Traci Thomason, filed a civil lawsuit against McCorvey, his ambulance partner Emily Sneed and the company, Prime Care EMS LLC, according to their attorney Stephen Fowler. The complaint claims negligence on the part of Prime Care, McCorvey and Sneed and charges all three defendants with the wrongful death.
The complaint document also charges Prime Care with negligent hiring, training and supervision practices as well as negligent entrustment — a charge that claims the company allowed McCorvey to work despite knowing he was a reckless driver.
The lawsuit will seek punitive damages against Prime Care, McCorvey and Sneed, though it did specify an amount.
“We filed this lawsuit to get answers for the Thomason family and to obtain justice for what happened to their father,” Fowler told the AJC. “The callous indifference shown by the defendants for the life of Wilton Thomason Jr. has shocked our community and people across the nation. We hope to expose the shortcomings of a system that led to Mr. Thomason being placed into the care of an individual that believed it was acceptable to operate an ambulance while drinking and using drugs.”
McCorvey was booked into the Fulton County Jail on Nov. 13 and remains there without bond.
— Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
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