CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Two motions have been filed in the case of the former Kanawha County EMT charged in the dragging death of an Elkview man.
Attorneys for Alyssa Middleton have filed a motion to postpone her trial currently scheduled to begin Aug. 17. The defense has also filed a motion for a change of venue and to seal the new venue.
Kanawha County Circuit Judge Dave Hardy has yet to schedule a new hearing on the motions. There is currently a pretrial hearing scheduled for July 28.
Middleton, 19, was charged in May with voluntary manslaughter, aggravated vehicular homicide, and fleeing the scene of an accident-causing death, all felonies, in the April death of John Lucas.
Middleton was driving the Kanawha County ambulance that struck Lucas, 45, in Elkview in the early morning hours of April 16. Prosecutors allege she didn’t stop after the collision and dragged Lucas for nearly two miles.
A special grand jury indicted Middleton.
One of her attorneys, Tim Carrico, said at her May arraignment that Middleton and her partner believed Lucas had a knife.
“They didn’t want to get out of the ambulance. They were scared because they knew he was out there. They saw him with a knife. They were scared. I believe this will all come out in the video because it’s all recorded,” Carrico said.
Middleton and her ambulance partner that night, Rayna Scott, were fired by new Kanawha County Emergency Ambulance Authority Executive Director Lance Wheeler on July 1.
Middleton is free on bond. Scott was not charged in connection with the death.