PORTLAND, Maine (WGAN) The Cumberland County Grand Jury has indicted a former corrections officer in a crash that killed a 9-year-old in Gorham.
The Portland Press Herald reports 62-year-old Kenneth Morang clocked out of the Cumberland County Jail after a nearly 16-hour shift on July 21st. He was driving his pickup heading down Route 25 that afternoon when he rear-ended a car and pushed it into oncoming traffic. Morang told police he fell asleep at the wheel.
9-year-old Raelynn bell, a passenger in that car, died in the hospital.
Morang was indicted this month on a manslaughter charge.
According to the newspaper, Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce confirmed that Morang had worked a total of 88 hours at the jail since July 14th, and had done consecutive double-shifts during the two days before the crash.
In a statement released Thursday, the sheriff’s office extended their sympathy to the girl’s family. They say Morang resigned earlier this month after being out of work due to injuries from the crash, and planned to retire in December. The statement also said the sheriff’s office is working with the corrections union “to develop a policy that doesn’t unduly limit an employee’s desire to work overtime while fulfilling the needs of the organization’s vacant shifts.”
