Family of teen who died in vehicle sues Cincinnati

CINCINNATI — The parents of a 16-year-old student who died trapped in a minivan on April 10, 2018, after his two heartrending 911 calls failed to save him have sued the city of Cincinnati on Monday.

The wrongful death lawsuit filed in Hamilton County charges the city, two 911 center employees, two police officers and a former city official with actions that the suit alleges led to Kyle Plush’s death in 2018. Plush’s parents have said the object of the lawsuit is to find out what went wrong and make sure it doesn’t happen again.

The lawsuit says that “defendants acted recklessly and with deliberate indifference in failing to protect Kyle Plush, causing him to suffer greatly before his death.” It seeks a jury trial and compensatory damages of more than $25,000 against the defendants. Punitive damages to be determined at trial are being sought against defendants other than the city.

A statement from the Gerhardstein & Branch law firm, which is representing the family, says the lawsuit details a “deteriorating” Cincinnati 911 program in the months leading up to the teen’s death. The goal of the On May 17, 2018, Ron Plush, father of Kyle, and his sister-in-law Jody, left, listened as Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley described the response to the death of the 16-year-old Seven Hills student. Ron Plush and his wife have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Cincinnati. legal action is to uncover the 911 problems “that led to Kyle’s death,” according to the statement.

Messages seeking comment were left with the city Monday.

The teen’s death led to multiple investigations and to improvements in the city’s 911 system, staffing, training and police procedures. But the youth’s parents have expressed dissatisfaction.

Ron Plush repeatedly took part in city council meetings last year, pushing for

reforms and accountability for his son’s death.

On April 10, 2018, Kyle Plush used the voiceactivation feature on his cellphone to have Siri dial 911, warning: “I’m going to die here.” He called again minutes later, this time describing his vehicle as a gold Honda Odyssey.

Two police officers drove around at the boy’s high school looking for him but left without getting out of their cruiser.

He eventually suffocated from having his chest compressed when a foldaway rear seat pinned him as he reached for tennis gear while parked near his school. Kyle’s father found his body nearly six hours after his first 911 call.

Police have blamed communication breakdowns and said procedures have been changed in the aftermath.

There were also questions raised about the safety of the 2004 Odyssey the student died in. Honda in 2017 recalled some 900,000 later-model Odysseys because of concerns about second-row seats tipping forward when not latched properly, but spokesman Chris Martin said earlier this year that there were no seatrelated recalls of the 2004 model.

Martin said this has been the only instance of its type involving that model, and there isn’t any pattern of similar incidents from which to draw any conclusions.

The Plush family has memorialized Kyle with a foundation in his name that pushes for reforms, education and support for emergency communications employees.