Officers awarded for saving Erica Hughes' life

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Their actions helped save the life of a 2-year-old girl who was shot in the head. On Monday, they were given an award for their actions during a celebration for Dr. Martin Luther King.

"To be honest, I just thought it was another homicide," said LMPD Det. Thomas Barth.

Metro Police Officers Steven Kelsey and Thomas Barth responded to the home of Erica Hughes in May of 2006. "After we started clearing the house that's when we seen her, well actually seen her laying on the bed," Barth said.

And that's when they discovered it was not just another homicide.

"When I went over and actually touched her and when she -- startled me -- that's when I knew we had something," Barth said.

Standard procedure is to wait for an ambulance, but Hughes had been shot in the head so a sergeant on the scene made the decision to break protocol.

"He just realized, he said 'hey, this is a 2-year-old baby.' He said: 'The ambulance is taking too long. We have to go ahead and act now,'" Kelsey recalled.

The two put Hughes in the car and stepped on the gas.

"He [the sergeant] said: 'Drive as fast as you can and they're blocking off the streets,'" Kelsey said. "And he said he's willing to deal with what comes after that."

What came after that was a miracle.

"They knew this little girl was in critical condition with bullets in her head. They had to get to the hospital right away," said George Burney, President of Pride Inc.

"The doctor said if we had not decided to do what we did, she would not be here today," Kelsey said.

But Hughes is here because of their actions. And that's why Kelsey and Barth were honored at Monday night's celebration.

"These two officers should have been awarded after it happened but we didn't do it then," Burney said.

Typically the award the officers received is given to judges and attorneys; it's named after Judge Benjamin Shobe, a retired Kentucky circuit judge and civil rights attorney.

"Judge Shobe asked me to do this because of the work that they did in getting this little girl to the hospital," Burney said.

Erica is now 8 years old and in the third grade. Although she lost the sight in one of her eyes as a result of the shooting, she's still full of life.