Georgia ambulance driver sentenced in 2021 crash that killed patient

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - A former Georgia paramedic will spend at least eight years behind bars in connection with a crash that killed a patient he was transporting.

The Fulton County District Attorney's Office says 34-year-old Kevin T. McCorvey pleaded guilty to first-degree vehicular manslaughter, reckless driving, and reckless conduct.

Officials say the charges stem from a crash on the night of Nov. 12, 2021, on West Campbellton Road near Golightly Street.

At the scene, police found a 2007 Ford Econoline Prime Care EMS ambulance overturned in a ditch and the patient who was being transported in a non-emergency capacity dead.

Troopers said McCorvey was driving south on West Campbellton Street when he hit the shoulder, causing the ambulance to overturn. The patient, later identified by troopers as 66-year-old Wilton Thomason, was not restrained at the time and died from the injuries received in the crash. Thomason was being transported from a kidney dialysis appointment to his nursing home.

Kevin T. McCorvey (Fulton County Sheriffs Office)

According to the incident report, a Fairburn police officer stopped McCorvey and another person from leaving the scene in an Uber.

After giving McCovery a sobriety test, Georgia State Patrol troopers arrested the ambulance driver. The incident report says he admitted to smoking marijuana, taking Adderall, and drinking a beer before he took the wheel, CNN reports.

"The defendant betrayed a position of trust, resulting in the tragic loss of a cherished family member," said District Attorney Fani T. Willis. "Mr. Thomason’s family has demonstrated an exceptional degree of grace and purpose throughout this entire process, and I will continue keeping them in my prayers."

After he pleaded guilty, a judge sentenced McCorvey to 15 years with eight in prison.