Alabama Responder Acquitted in Fatal Ambulance Crash
The Rural Metro driver was charged with manslaughter.
An Alabama responder on trial for an ambulance wreck that killed a woman was acquitted Thursday afternoon by a jury.
Sherrie D. Varnon, 40, had been charged with manslaughter following the crash that killed a 72-year-old woman on an interstate near Bessemer, Ala., according to al.com.
Reporters noted that Varnon's family squealed with excitement upon hearing the not guilty verdict returned to Circuit Judge David Hobdy Jr. by the jury of eight women and four men.
During the trial, prosecutors argued Varnon took her eyes off the road for about 10 seconds and fiddled with a cellphone in her right hand just before the ambulance she was driving struck the back of the vehicle that had made a U-turn to avoid traffic.
The ambulance, that was going 87 mph, was not on an emergency call. Varnon was alone.
The victim was ejected from the vehicle and killed.
