By John Estridge
Alleged negligence from three Franklin County governmental entities, especially the Franklin County dispatchers, led to six people drowning as a result of washed-out approaches to a bridge during flooding on March 20, 2020.
That is the claim of at least three lawsuits filed in Franklin Circuit Court II by relatives of some of the deceased.
In the early morning hours of March 20, 2020, a vehicle holding a mother and three children drove off the washed-out approaches to the bridge and into Sanes Creek, killing all four people. A pickup truck containing two males did the same thing, killing both the driver and the passenger.
According to the lawsuits, three separate 911 calls were made to the Franklin County Security Center concerning the bridge prior to the deaths, but the two dispatchers on duty failed to notify anyone and instead were posting to personal social media accounts at the times of the calls.
Dead as a result of the washed-out approaches to the bridge are: Felina Lewis, 35, and her three children, 4-year-old KyLee Mosier, 7-year-old Elysium Lewis and 13-year-old Ethan Williams; and Shawn Roberts, 47, and Burton Spurlock, 48, who were in the other vehicle.
According to the Factual Background, which is about the same in each lawsuit, the bridge in question crosses Sanes Creek just east of Tee Hill Road on Sanes Creek Road. The bridge has a pillar in the creek which catches trees and other debris, causing a dam to form, forcing the water to find alternative routes. This can cause the banks to wash out.
Between March 18, 2020 and March 20, 2020, the area had about 2.5 inches of rain.
At 3 a.m., local resident Robin Ault, who lives directly west of the bridge, went to check on his cattle. When he returned to his home, “he realized that Sanes Creek had overflowed its banks and was flooding the bridge.”
Robin’s wife called the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department to report “the bridge was heavily flooded.”
That call was made at 3:17 a.m., and no action was taken, according to the lawsuits.
At 4:18 a.m., resident Diane Madden approached the bridge and saw water flowing across the top of the bridge. She called 911 and told the dispatcher “the bridge on Sanes Creek Road is completely washed away.”
According to the lawsuits, no action was taken.
At 4:46 a.m., another resident called Franklin County Sheriff’s Department and told them Sanes Creek Road was flooded and not passable at the Sanes Creek Bridge.
According to the lawsuits, “For the third time, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department took no action.”
“On the morning of March 20, 2020, Felina Lewis woke her children well before dawn,” according to the lawsuits. “She needed to drop her children off at daycare on her way to her job in Greensburg where her shift started at 6 a.m. Shortly before 5 a.m., Felina left her house with her two daughters, 7-year-old Elysium and 4-year-old Kylee, as well as her son, 13-year-old Ethan. They headed west on Sanes Creek Road toward the bridge.
“As Felina approached the bridge with her three young children shortly before 5 a.m., she had no idea and could not know that the bridge was washed out or that the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department had received three separate calls warning it of the danger the roadway and bridge posed to the traveling public,” the lawsuits state.
Robin Ault’s wife made her second 911 call on that fateful morning at 4:54 a.m., saying a car had been swept off the bridge into Sanes Creek. She observed headlights in Sanes Creek and heard a woman screaming.
“Unfortunately, the car Robin Ault’s wife observed in Sanes Creek was later discovered and confirmed to be that of Felina Lewis,” the lawsuits state.
Then, the lawsuits said at an undetermined time, Burton Spurlock and Shawn Roberts, driving a four-wheel drive pickup from west to east on Sanes Creek Road were swept down Sanes Creek due to the washout.
Finally, at about 6 a.m., a vehicle driven by Franklin County Highway Department employee Donnie Grizzell “was driving eastbound on Sanes Creek Road when he drove his personal vehicle over Sanes Creek Bridge and into the washed-out roadway that had been reported to Franklin County.”
Someone in that terrible morning contacted by phone the two little girls’ father, Joshua Mosier, concerning the situation.
“At some point on the morning of March 20, 2020, Elysium and Kylee’s father, Joshua Mosier, received a call that a car believed to be Felina’s was found submerged in Sanes Creek,” the lawsuits state. “Josh immediately called Felina’s employer and his children’s babysitter, but neither had seen Felina that morning.
“Josh drove to the area of the bridge where the car was found,” they continued. “Upon arrival, Josh confirmed that no one had found Elysium or Kylee. In the hope of finding Elysium and/or Kylee still alive, he entered the freezing creek water to find his children.
“Josh swam and waded downstream several thousand feet before he discovered the body of his 4-year-old daughter, Kylee. Josh found Kylee’s body tangled in debris, lifeless, with her stomach distended,” they continued. “Josh picked up his daughter and carried her body back to his house which was only a few hundred yards away. Josh laid Kylee’s body in his garage. He kissed her on the forehead and told her that he needed to go find her sister.
“Josh returned to Sanes Creek behind his house. After swimming and wading downstream, he found the body of his older daughter, 7-year-old Elysium. Josh carried the (sic) Elysium’s body back to his house and laid her body next to her sister, Kylee.”
Later that day, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department initiated an investigation about the 911 calls before the deaths.
Franklin County Sheriff’s Department Major Gregory Mehlbauer called into dispatch at 5:13 p.m. He had one of the dispatchers on duty review the 911 call log. During the call, Mehlbauer learned of the 4:18 a.m. call.
A portion of Mehlbauer’s conversation with the dispatcher is then put, supposedly verbatim, into the lawsuits:
Mehlbauer: “What did they do with it?”
Dispatcher: “It looks like it was made an I-Call.”
Mehlbauer: “Are you f…. (expletive) kidding me? Nobody called county highway?”
According to the lawsuits, the call center and dispatch manual states an I-Call stands for information call. “An I-Call is not assigned to or cleared by an officer.”
In the same investigative call from Mehlbauer, he learned the two dispatchers’ names who took the call. He asked the dispatcher on duty to determine if the two dispatchers or anyone else did anything with the 4:18 a.m. call. The dispatcher on duty called one of the dispatchers who took the 4:18 a.m. call and found out no one contacted the Franklin County Highway Department.
According to at least one of the lawsuits, it is alleged the two dispatchers who took the three 911 calls about the washed-out bridge before the fatalities “were making numerous postings on their personal social media accounts such as but not limited to Facebook at the exact time the 911 calls were made regarding the Sanes Creek Bridge washout.”
Currently, there are three separate lawsuits against Franklin County, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department and the Franklin County Highway Department.
One is Joshua Mosier as sole surviving natural parent of Elysium Lewis and Kylee Mosier. He is represented by Wagner Reese LLP, an Indianapolis personal injury law firm. It is seeking:
- Loss of Elysium and Kylee’s services, love and companionship;
- Funeral expenses;
- Burial expenses;
- Expense of counseling services required by Joshua Mosier.
A second lawsuit is Billy Williams III, as sole surviving natural parent of Ethan Williams. He is represented by Stephenson Rife LLP, a personal injury law firm based in Shelbyville.
It is seeking the same as the first lawsuit with the exceptions of the name of Ethan Williams in the place of the two girls’ names in Section A, and the expense of the counseling services is for Billy Williams III.
The third lawsuit was filed by Daphne Lewis, personal representative of the Estate of Felina D. Lewis, deceased. She is represented by Ken Nunn Law Office, a personal injury attorney in Bloomington.
Instead of counseling services, the only changes in what it is seeking are the headstone expense and Felina D. Lewis’ name is in Section A.
With the highway department, the lawsuits allege that Franklin County and the highway department:
- Failed to exercise reasonable care in inspecting and/or maintaining the bridge.
- Created and/or maintained a hazard by allowing debris to gather under the bridge which in turn created a natural dam that permitted flowing flood waters to wash out the approach to the bridge.
- Failed to warn the traveling public of the hazardous condition of the roadway caused by the permanent condition of the roadway including, without limitation, the complete wash out of the bridge.
- Failed to exercise reasonable care and diligence to keep its streets in a reasonably safe condition for travel.
- Failed to respond to address the extremely dangerous and permanent condition of the roadway despite having actual knowledge of it.
- The actions of Franklin County and the Franklin County Highway Department in failing to maintain Sanes Creek Road and Bridge and their failure to warn the traveling public constituted willful or wanton misconduct.
All three lawsuits then turned to the two dispatchers in the employ of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department.
It alleges the FCSD was negligent in the following manners:
- Failed to exercise reasonable care in responding and/or handling the 4:18 a.m. 911 call warning that the bridge had been washed out.
- Failed to warn the traveling public that the bridge was washed out.
- Failed to contact the Franklin County Highway Department upon receiving notice that the bridge had been washed out.
- Failed to warn the motoring public of the extremely dangerous and permanent condition of the roadway despite having sufficient information and knowledge to know that the condition would have life threatening consequences. Instead, the Defendant Franklin County Sheriff’s Department ignored and perpetuated the dangerous permanent condition of the roadway.
- Failed to properly train its employees on Department policies and/or procedures.
- The actions of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department handling of the 911 calls related to Sanes Creek Road and Bridge constituted willful or wanton misconduct.
Two of the three lawsuits request a jury trial.
they’ll never understand how they impacted so many lives because they were more concerned about social media ?..
They should be convicted of manslaughter x6 .