Nine-year-old Raelynn Bell of Cumberland, Maine, was riding home with her father, Michael Bell, and her two sisters after going to the movies on July 21, 2019. A Maine corrections officer, asleep at the wheel, slammed his Ford F-150 into the back end of the family’s SUV on Route 25 at the intersection of Dow Road in Gorham.

The 2008 Honda Pilot careened into oncoming traffic and hit another vehicle. A helicopter rushed Raelynn to Maine Medical Center in Portland. She died two days later of traumatic brain injury.

On Monday, January 6, 2020, the former corrections officer, Kenneth Morang, 62, of Standish, pleaded “not guilty” to manslaughter charges.

Asleep at the Wheel

Morang admitted to police that he fell asleep at the wheel. He had clocked out 30 minutes before the crash after working a 16-hour day in the Cumberland County Jail in Portland. He had worked a total of 88 hours that week, according to the Portland Press Herald.

According to Maine law, a Class A manslaughter is causing a person’s death “recklessly, or with criminal negligence.”

Morang’s attorney claims the crash was an accident.

Cumberland County Corrections & Sleep Deprivation

The Cumberland County Jail is part of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office. The office has no policy for limiting overtime hours.

In fact, because corrections jobs have become hard to fill, the Cumberland County Jail is understaffed. Currently it has 32 open positions. Administrators have ordered officers to work extra shifts so that they can maintain minimum staffing requirements.

Driver fatigue is a major problem on U.S. roads.

The Sheriff’s Office is also absolving themselves for responsibility. They state that the law does not require them to limit their employees’ overtime or, apparently, allow them to sleep. According to an NECN report, the office is placing the responsibility on the employees themselves to be educated on the hazards of “getting too tired.”

Since the crash, Morang has resigned from his position. Currently, he is on personal recognizance bail with the condition he cannot drive. He will return to court in March. If found guilty, Morang could face the maximum penalty of 30 years in jail.

Raelynn Bell’s family’s sentence of grief will have no end. This family deserves justice for their loss.

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