A murder indictment has been handed down by a Leslie County (Kentucky) grand jury against a Coon Creek Fire Rescue Department member who prosecutors *allege was driving drunk when he crashed a fire truck and left the scene, leaving another Firefighter trapped.
That Firefighter died.
Austin Turner is also charged with wanton endangerment for that October 2023 crash in which CCFR Lieutenant Regina Huffman, 39, died in the Line of Duty. She was alive when Turner left, and was pulled from the apparatus wreckage by other emergency service personnel, but later died. His mother, Ethel Turner, who is also involved with the fire department, was indicted for tampering with physical evidence and for removing Austin from the scene of the crash.
Both are being held at the Leslie County Detention Center. Leslie County Sheriff’s officials said when they arrived on the scene of the wreck in October, Turner had left the scene but Fire Lieutenant Huffman was still trapped in the truck. Members were able to remove Regina Huffman from the truck and transport her to Mary Breckinridge ARH where she later died. Mary Breckinridge ARH is where law enforcement found Turner. The arresting deputy, Shane Wilson said they gave Turner a blood test and found that he was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the wreck.
Lt Huffman was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. She served with Coon Creek Fire & Rescue in Kentucky. She was survived by her mother, her fiancé, her six children, two sisters, and extended family and friends.