Lawsuit against Keller EMS settles on eve of trial
Just days before it was scheduled for a jury trial, a case filed against Northwest Alabama Health Services, LLC., which operates as Keller EMS, was settled on March 11, 2026.
The wrongful death lawsuit was filed in Franklin County Circuit in 2021 by Carrie Willis, as administrator and personal representative of the Estate of Dylan Kyle Lane, her son, who was found dead in a Russellville City Jail cell on November 15, 202, by Russellville Fire and Rescue personnel.
Lane was 22 years old at the time of his death.
The wrongful death case also included as defendants the City of Russellville, Russellville Police Chief Chris Hargett and RPD Officers T.J. Balcom, Craig Bullion and Antonio Melecio. Balcom and Bullion are no longer employed by the department, while Melecio remains with RPD.
The counts against the city and the individual defendants were previously settled and/or dismissed, leaving Keller EMS as the lone remaining defendant.
The case was on the March 2026 jury trial docket but the attorneys notified special-appointed Circuit Judge Glenn Thompson that a settlement had been reached two days before trial.
Terms of the settlement, including any monetary amount paid by Northwest Alabama Health Services, LLC, remain confidential.
Lane was arrested on November 13, 2020, on a misdemeanor warrant and taken to the Russellville City Jail. Lane was placed in a cell with other inmates “who were known (or should have been known) to possess illegal drugs,” according to the complaint.
The following day, on November 14th, jail officials contacted Keller EMS to come to the city jail to conduct a “well person check” at 4:02 p.m. According to the complaint, the call was described as “non-emergency to check a prisoner who took some drugs.”
At that time, the complaint alleges Lane’s heart rate was 136 with a blood pressure reading of 175/125. The complaint alleges that Keller EMS personnel recommended Lane be transported to the hospital, but that a police officer told Lane if he agreed to be transported to the hospital he would have to serve an additional three day confinement in jail once he was released.
The complaint alleges Lane refused the transport but also refused to sign a ‘Medical Care Refusal’ form, so the officer signed it for him. Keller EMS personnel left without transporting Lane for further care.
On Sunday, November 15th, Russellville Fire Department personnel responded to the jail where Lane was lying in a cell by himself, with no pulse and not breathing. The complaint alleges Lane’s body showed “significant rigor mortis and lividity.”
According to jail records, Lane was observed eating breakfast around 5 a.m., by jail personnel.
The complaint alleges Keller EMS officials were negligent in not providing “reasonable and necessary medical care” to Lane. The counts against the officers were based on their alleged failure to pat down or search inmates for possession of drugs at the time of confinement.
There was an additional count alleging Lane’s civil rights were violated by the “deliberate indifference to the serious medical needs of Lane.”
The lawsuit was filed by Birmingham attorney Stephen D. Heninger. The Russellville law firm of Rogers, Bowling & McReynolds also represented Willis in the case.