BY DONNA SWICEGOOD
A Statesville man who has been free on bond while awaiting trial on charges he was responsible for a crash in June 2022 that caused the death of a man and his two children and seriously injured three others was being in the Iredell County Detention Center on Tuesday after a judge raised his bond.
Judge Troy Stafford increased Austin Ray Harmon’s bond to $750,000 during a hearing in Iredell County Superior Court on Tuesday morning.
Harmon, 26, is charged with three counts of felony death by motor vehicle, three counts of serious injury by motor vehicle, DWI and reckless driving in connection with a deadly crash on Fort Dobbs Road near Statesville.
Michael Shane Marlowe, 39, and two of his children, Bentley Marlowe, 5,, and Jada Marlowe, 13, were fatally injured and Marlowe’s partner, Amy Mills, their daughter Bailey Marlowe and a family friend, Teagan Murphy, were all seriously injured when Marlowe’s vehicle collided with a golf cart that Michael Marlowe was operating.
Harmon’s bond was set at $310,000. While he was free on that bond, he was charged with being intoxicated and disruptive by the Statesville Police Department in 2023. Additional restrictions were placed on Harmon at that time, including that he not use alcohol, illegal drugs or substances unless lawfully prescribed to do so. He also was required to submit to continuous alcohol monitoring.
During a recent hearing, further restrictions were put in place on Harmon, including a curfew of 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Tuesday’s hearing was held as a result of a wreck involving Harmon in September, Assistant District Attorney Mikko Red Arrow said.
During the hearing, Red Arrow presented evidence that Harmon was involved in a single-vehicle wreck near Statesville on September 29. That wreck, he said, occurred around 3 a.m.
Shepherds Fire-Rescue Engineer Jason Workman testified that he responded to a wreck early that morning and found a pickup truck that had run off the road. He identified Harmon as the person he encountered at the scene of the accident.
“He said he’d ran off the road and was stuck,” Workman testified.
Workman, who described Harmon as agitated and staggering around, said Harmon asked firefighters if they had chains and could pull his truck out.
Red Arrow told Judge Stafford that Harmon was wearing an alcohol monitor and it registered no alcohol. No alcohol or drug-related charges were filed in connection with the wreck.
Defense attorneys Ken Darty and Kaleigh Darty asked for a continuance because they had not had adequate time to prepare for Tuesday’s hearing and to meet with Harmon to discuss the case.
Ken Darty said he was in court in Rowan County on Friday and Kaleigh Darty said she was in court all day Monday and was only able to reach Harmon on Monday night to tell him about the hearing. She said the defense received notice of the hearing on Friday.
Red Arrow, however, said efforts have been made since early October to schedule a hearing.
Red Arrow told the judge that regardless of whether Harmon was impaired in the September 24 wreck, he was violating the curfew restrictions of his bond.
“The state’s concern is safety,” the prosecutor said.
After a hearing that lasted about 40 minutes, Judge Stafford said it was evident that Harmon had violated the conditions of his release. He then set Harmon’s bond at $750,000.