FAYETTE COUNTY, W.Va. — Fayette County Sheriff Mike Fridley said the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department’s Facebook page has been deleted following negative comments made there about an 11-week-old boy who died after being swept away by high water his mother drove into on Friday.
“Sorry, but I’m getting bashed and getting messages. People are just so rude and unfair,” Fridley said in a video message at 12:34 p.m. Saturday before the page was disabled that day at 2 p.m.
Fridley said the sheriff’s office would just delete the negative comments, but they did that once before and got sued, so the only option is to delete the page.
“We deleted comments before and got in trouble for that,” he said.
The sheriff’s department will continue to provide press releases to local media outlets, Fridley said.
“I’ll send information to the news still and we’ll try to keep you updated on certain things, but that’s the only option I have,” he said.
Fridley said while he recognizes Facebook users can comment their thoughts freely, it’s still unsettling to get this much hate surrounding such a tragic case.
“To the people that made comments, that’s their right, that’s their freedom, it’s the country we live in and I’m sorry it’s come down to that,” he said. “I’m praying for the families, first responders and it’s just a terrible thing.”
Emergency crews responded to a vehicle that was stuck in the 2100 block of Paint Creek Road in Pax at about 8:30 a.m. Friday. A mother that was driving the vehicle misjudged the depth of the water and drove in the road until she realized it was too deep. Deputies said she tried to get the baby from the vehicle when it was swept away.
Crews later found the vehicle submerged in about 18-feet deep water with the infant still inside at about 2:30 p.m. Friday.