FILE – In this April 10, 2018 file photo, a minivan is removed from the parking lot near the Seven Hills School campus in Cincinnati. Kyle Plush, a 16-year-old student, died in the vehicle after being trapped by a fold-up seat despite making two 911 calls. On Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020, an Ohio judge will rule on whether to move forward with a lawsuit filed by the family of Plush. The suit, filed last year, charges the city, a former city official and four city employees with actions it alleges led to Plush’s 2018 death. (Cara Owsley/The Cincinnati Enquirer via AP, File)
CINCINNATI (AP) — An Ohio judge is ready to rule on whether to move forward with a lawsuit filed by the family of a 16-year-old student who died after being trapped by a fold-up vehicle seat despite making two 911 calls.
Hamilton County Judge Robert Ruehlman plans to decide Wednesday on a motion to dismiss the suit filed by Cincinnati. Ruehlman heard legal arguments last month.
The suit, filed last year, charges the city, a former city official and four city employees with actions it alleges led to Kyle Plush’s 2018 death. The lawsuit’s goals are to determine what went wrong when police were unable to locate him and to make sure it doesn’t happen again, the family said.
The city contends that the employees are protected by governmental immunity and that the lawsuit lacks merit. The city also says it has improved its 911 response system and continues to make improvements.
A trial date has been set tentatively for March 30.
Plush was apparently pinned by a foldaway seat in his family’s van and suffocated in a parking lot near his school.
Kyle’s father Ron discovered his body nearly six hours after his son’s first 911 call, when Kyle warned: “I’m going to die soon.”
By DAN SEWELL
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