Woman ‘squeezed’ by garbage truck claw before ‘compressed’ body dumped | US | News
The family of a homeless woman who died after being crushed under a garbage truck accused the city and sanitation workers of “gross negligence” in a wrongful death lawsuit.
Tyrah Adams, 35, died Feb. 12 when a Louisville Metro garbage truck was clearing an alley during a “routine cleanup” in the Kentucky city. City officials initially informed family members that he had merely “made contact” with the vehicle and that his death was a tragic accident.
“A woman, who was not visible to the crew, was present in some of this trash, which was collected and moved to another location before being removed,” Mayor Craig Greenburg said at the time. “And in the meantime, the woman was injured again, unseen.”
But Tyrah’s family claims the truck’s hydraulic garbage claw picked her up, “squeezed” her, and then dumped her “squeezed” body in an alley. In a new lawsuit alleging “careless conduct,” they accused the city and sanitation workers of failing to follow proper safety protocols.
“[Louisville Metro] He knew or should have known that homeless individuals and vulnerable person(s) were occupying targeted streets, debris piles and cleanup areas during Public Works operations, the legal complaint states, Louisville Public Media reported. The complaint alleges that two unnamed workers failed to follow the city’s written safety procedures for operating the truck’s hydraulic claw.
“They physically picked him up with that claw, squeezed him, pinned him down, and dropped him,” the family’s attorney, Stephanie Rivas, told NBC affiliate WSMV in April, before the new lawsuit was filed.
“[The workers] “He left her there to find his own help,” Rivas added. Tyrah suffered “catastrophic” injuries during the incident and ran into a nearby JandM Food Market to seek help, according to the complaint. A store clerk called 911 after arriving screaming for help.
“The woman lying on the floor was ‘changing colors that no white woman should be,'” a person at the store said in the alleged statement detailed in the complaint.
Tyrah later died from her injuries. The coroner’s report confirmed that he died as a result of severe blunt force and compression trauma.
The complaint alleges that the city and sanitation employees “breached” their duty of care to Tyrah by “failing to maintain proper surveillance, failing to inspect the work area, failing to keep personnel away from the operational area, failing to use appropriate detection procedures, failing to supervise employees, failing to follow safety procedures, and failing to exercise reasonable care.”
A spokesperson for Greenberg told the Courier Journal that the mayor’s office’s “thoughts and condolences are with the victim’s family.” But they refused to comment on the wrongful death lawsuit.
