May 21, 2018
MOTHER AND CHILD BOTH FLOWN TO TRAUMA CENTER; BABY LESS THAN TWO YEARS OLD DID NOT SUFFER MAJOR INJURIES
MAY 20, 2018 – written by WADE QUEEN
A Martin County woman who was involved in an ATV crash, along with her toddler child in rural Martin County last week, died from injuries this past Thursday evening.
30 year-old Ashlee Pinson, of Inez, passed away at Cabell Huntington Hospital where she was flown after the Tuesday, May 15 accident, along with her 22-month old daughter.
The crash happened along Johnson Bottom off old state Route 3 in Martin County. Both Pinson and her daughter were flown to Cabell Huntington Hospital.
Martin County deputies say Ashlee Pinson was driving the ATV with her 22-month-old daughter down a gravel hill when she lost control in a curve around 5:30 p.m Tuesday.
“I figured that’s where she had probably lost control of the vehicle and I would guess it probably turned over, threw them off,” “But it very well could’ve landed on top of her as it went on down the hill … it was pretty bad.” Martin County deputy sheriff Jerry Todd said.
“The neighbors had heard a baby crying and they went to see why the baby was crying and where it was at and that’s how they found them,” said Martin County deputy, Billy Patrick.
Patrick said they found Pinson and her daughter on the side of the road and the four-wheeler was about 30 feet away from them.
Deputy Todd stated Pinson’s young daughter is doing well and was released from the hospital Wednesday afternoon, the day after the crash.
Ashlee Pinson, however, was not as fortunate. Pinson sustained brain injuries and she remained in critical condition throughout until her passing.
“They (the injuries) were pretty extensive. It looked like she definitely had some head injuries and it was just, it was a bad accident. They were pretty severe injuries,” deputy Todd said. “She was never doing good at all … very critical.”
Deputies said the cause of the crash remains unknown.
“We think that the baby, maybe, gave the gas to the four-wheeler and it kind of threw Ashley back a little bit and took her hands off the handlebars and so then she lost control and it went down into a ditch and just started flipping down the hill,” said Jeff Marcum, Ashley Pinson’s Uncle.
Neighbor Kevin Whitt, who lives next door to where the crash happened, described the scene as pure chaos.
“Chaos, a lot of people screaming that their family was down here, it was just awful and that little kid, it was covered in blood,” Whitt said. “It was awful.”
Visitation for Ashlee Pinson was Saturday, May 19, at 4:00 p.m. and the funeral was Sunday, May 20, at 2:00 p.m. Both services were at New Friendship Church.
Martin County deputies are emphacizing the importance of ATV safety.
“You just want to be as safe as you can on them, make sure your brakes, everything’s working properly before you’re on them and the big thing is try not to have the little kids on there … not have kids driving the ATVs and riding as passengers and stuff,” deputy Todd said. “Just be as safe as you can because they are dangerous, especially on gravel roads.”
That statement was never as true, due to a somber, yet ironic twist of fate, as within minutes of the Martin County ATV crash, there was also an ATV crash in Fort Gay, West Virginia area of Wayne County in which the rider of that ATV also suffered injuries and had to be flown to the same Huntington, West Virginia hospital as Ashlee Pinson and her daughter.
