SHELBY COUNTY, TN – Wayne Ables says his mother died in the backseat of his truck while he was getting a traffic ticket. It happened on March 12, 2009. Ables tells myEyewitnessNews.com he was driving his mother to the hospital when he was pulled over by a Shelby County Sheriff’s Deputy for expired tags. The deputy, Micah McNinch did call for an ambulance, but Ables’ mother couldn’t make it that long. The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office has suspended McNinch for one day without pay for his actions.
According to dash cam video, the ambulance got to the scene eleven minutes after it was called. St. Francis Bartlett Hospital is less than five minutes away. Ables says he told McNinch his mother was in the back seat, suffering from severe breathing problems. According to audio taken from the dash camera the deputy didn’t want to give Ables his ticket until the ambulance arrived to the scene. “I don’t want to give him this copy to sign until the ambulance gets here. Otherwise he will leave and we’ve got an ambulance and a fire truck coming up her for no reason.”
According to the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, deputies are instructed not to escort vehicles during traffic stops, but Sheriff Mark Luttrell says there are times when the policy needs to be worked around. Luttrell and Ables both say this should’ve been one of those times. Ables says his mother died in the back seat, just 8/10 of a mile from the hospital. “The last word I heard my mom say is I can’t breathe son, I can’t breathe, I need some air. That’s what I’m going to have to live with for the rest of my life. When he sees his mom, give her a big hug, tell her he loves her, cause I can’t do that with my mom anymore.”
Deputy Micah McNinch has been with the Sheriff’s Office for three years. This is the first major infraction on his record. The Sheriff’s Office says it will use this incident as a way to refine policies about how deputies should respond when they encounter medical issues.
