In June of this year, EMS driver Crystin Rheanne Keys, 21, crashed an ambulance into a tree, killing the passenger, Tony Patterson, 55. Keys recently pleaded guilty to weaving over the roadway, and paid an $84 fine. She does not face jail time.
Kay Ann Wetherington, Rome Judicial Circuit Assistant District Attorney, chose not to pursue a charge of vehicular homicide.
The family of the victim hired Atlanta attorney Bradley Pratt. Pratt has said that the family did not want to prosecute Keys on vehicular homicide, which could put her in prison for years.
“This family showed a lot of compassion today,” Pratt said. “I’m tremendously impressed by them. We believe that there’s more to this story than just a horrible mistake by Ms. Keys. The family certainly wants justice for Tony. They want to understand the pressures these drivers are under. They want to understand the root cause of these accidents.”
According to reports, Keys drove from Puckett EMS’ Rossville Boulevard station in Chattanooga to a nursing home in LaFayette, Georgia on June 16. She picked up Patterson and was taking him to a hospital in Rome.
The accident reportedly occurred on Martha Berry Parkway, around 4:00 a.m., when she crashed the ambulance into a tree, leading to the death of Patterson.