ELKVIEW, W.Va. — John Lucas, the Elkview man struck and killed by an ambulance in April, had methamphetamine and amphetamine in his system when he died, according to the West Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Alyssa Middleton, the driver of the ambulance, is charged with three felonies, including voluntary manslaughter, in Lucas’s death. Her attorneys filed the toxicology report conducted on behalf of the state medical examiner as a supporting document for a motion in the case earlier this week.
That report indicates that Lucas was positive for both methamphetamine and amphetamine at the time of his death.
Investigators allege that Middleton hit Lucas with the ambulance and then dragged him for close to two miles on April 16. In addition to voluntary manslaughter, she is charged with aggravated vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident causing death.
The firm representing the Lucas family, Summers Law Office, put out a statement on Facebook on Thursday afternoon, stating that “John Lucas is not on trial.”
“The issue is not whether John had methamphetamine in his system,” the statement read. “The issue is what happened when the ambulance encountered him in the roadway and what the occupants of that ambulance did afterward. The video evidence is clear. It does not show John attacking the ambulance. It does not show John wielding a knife. It does not show him striking the ambulance or presenting the kind of threat that would justify what followed.”
The statement said that the video showed “important evidence” showing that the ambulance sped up to run over Lucas.
“The circumstances after the initial impact are even more troubling,” the statement continued. “The ambulance continued traveling for approximately two miles with John trapped underneath it. The occupants became aware that John was underneath the ambulance, yet the ambulance continued traveling. During this nearly two mile nightmarish odyssey, John was still alive and his arm was traumatically severed. When he was ultimately ejected from under the ambulance, John’s scream was captured on the ambulance’s in cab recording.”
“Those facts — not whether John had methamphetamine or caffeine in his system — are what must be examined,” the statement added.
Kanawha County Circuit Judge Dave Hardy is over the case which is currently held up as he waits for a ruling from the state supreme court that could affect a motion to change the trial’s venue.