Detroit mom sickened to learn EMT was 'parked around the corner' while her 8-month-old was dying

DETROIT (WJBK) - A former Detroit EMT accused of not responding to an emergency call is now facing charges, nearly two years later. That 911 call was for an infant who was having trouble breathing. The baby girl later died.

Prosecutors say the EMT, 45-year-old Ann Marie Thomas, was parked just a few blocks away from the home during the emergency. Sitting on the porch of her Detroit home, Janee Wright-Trussel can't help but think if Thomas had been doing her job properly her baby may still be alive.

"It just hurts," she says. "I miss her so much. She would've been here."

Thomas is charged with willful neglect of duty, a one-year misdemeanor. She's accused of purposely delaying her response to Janee's 911 call back in May of 2015 - and even stopping and parking less than a mile away.

"She thought she got away with it; it's been two years. But when you have a praying mother," the baby's grandmother, Pamela Thomas says, shaking her head.

Former Detroit EMT charged with willful neglect of duty in connection with infant's death

Janee says she discovered her 8-month-old I'nayah struggling to breathe inside her home on Glastonbury.

"Her bottle was out to the side and that's when I noticed she was staring up and I just started doing CPR," Janee says.

Janee also called 911 and her grandmother. While on the phone, she was trying to revive I'nayah. She says 20 minutes had passed and still no one had showed up.

"[The dispatcher] was telling me someone was supposed to be on their way, which, I come to find out, somebody was just over there sitting around the corner," Janee says. I'Nayah's mother and grandmother say the EMT was parked just a block away at Rosemost and Pembroke.

"It made me sick. It made me want to throw up. What if that was your child?" Janee says.

Another EMT eventually arrived, but I'Naya died in the hospital several hours later.

Janee, who denies any wrongdoing, has also been charged with felony murder and child abuse. She was still wearing a tether when she talked to FOX 2 on Wednesday.

"It makes me sad and mad at the same time that it took that long to charge her," Janee says. "I was in jail before her."

Thomas has since lost her job and she now faces up to a year in prison. I'Nayah's mother and grandmother say they can only forgive Thomas while keeping I'nayah's memory alive every day.

"I miss you and love you so much, and I'm sorry for everything that's going on," Janee says to her daughter. "I wish you were still here with me."