Driver pulled over by Det. Deidre Mengedoht tried to save her from fiery crash, attorney says

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The driver who was pulled over on Christmas Eve before the crash that killed LMPD Det. Deidre Mengedoht tried in vain to save her life, his attorney said, and now he has to live with the nightmare that unfolded before his eyes.

The crash that killed Mengedoht started with a traffic stop of a Dodge Ram truck driven by 19-year old Quentin Brady on I-64. Brady's girlfriend, Jasmin Parks, was sitting in the passenger seat. Two younger relatives, ages 17 and 4, were in the back seat.

Mengedoht was running a check on Brady's driver's license when an MSD truck violently collided with Mengedoht's vehicle.

"The truck hit the detective's vehicle," said Danielle Blandford, the attorney representing Brady and his passengers. "So when that vehicle was impacted, it pushed her vehicle into their vehicle and swung her car around to where it landed in front of them."

Blandford said Brady told her the crash was "horrific."

"They had, unfortunately, a view of what was happening in the vehicle just right in front them," she said.

Brady and another bystander ran to Mengedoht's vehicle, but there was nothing they could do at that point. The flames were so high, and there were some popping noises, so they were fearful the vehicle might explode.

Blandford said Brady and his passengers suffered only minor injuries.

"Mainly, it's an emotional damage," she said.

But she's preparing to file a lawsuit against Roger Burdette, the now-fired MSD truck driver charged with murder and DUI. Mengedoht's family has already filed a lawsuit against Burdette and MSD.

Blandford said she is filing to join in that case "to make sure that all the issues from the same crash are being heard by the same judge within the same case number."

She said her clients will never forget when Christmas Eve turned into tragedy.