IFN Staff
Several first responders on Wednesday described the “chaotic” scene that they encountered on June 13, 2022, after arriving at the site of a deadly crash involving a Honda Accord and a golf cart on Fort Dobbs Road near Statesville.
Testifying in the trial of Austin Ray Harmon, who faces six felony charges in connection with the collision that claimed the lives of three people and seriously injured three others, Iredell County EMS Paramedic Ashlyn Hawkins told the jury that she observed the bodies of Michael Marlowe, who came to rest on the back window of Harmon’s vehicle, and Marlowe’s 5-year-old Bentley, who was found in the road, soon after arriving at the scene.
One of six witnesses who took the stand in Iredell County Superior Court, Hawkins said she then came into contact with 13-year-old Jada Marlowe, who had suffered a serious head injury and was having difficulty breathing. After stabilizing the teen’s head and neck, starting an IV and loading her into an ambulance, Hawkins and her partner rushed Jada to Iredell Memorial Hospital.
“She needed help and was not able to breathe by herself,” Hawkins told the jury.
Nearby, Paramedic Kayla Potts was treating Jada’s best friend, Teagan Murphy. The teen suffered a head injury as well as injuries to her arms and legs, according to trial testimony.
Farther down the road, EMT Jessica Hollar was working to save the life of Amy Mills, whose leg was amputated during the crash. She was losing a significant amount of blood and likely in shock. Hollar also recalled seeing Bailey, Michael and Amy’s 2-year-old daughter, who suffered a head injury and two broken legs, but she was not deemed to be critically injured.
“It was chaotic,” Hollar said. “There was a lot going on.”
Cody Penley, an emergency responder with Iredell County Rescue Squad, was also on the scene that night. He told the jury that he checked Michael Marlowe for a pulse and breathing and determined he was deceased. Also involved in the recovery of Amy’s severed leg, he was understandably shaken by the experience.
After completing his work that night, “I went home and held my kids tight,” Penley said during questioning from Assistant District Attorney Mikko Red Arrow.
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. If convicted of all charges, he would likely face a sentence of more than 15 years in prison.
The trial, which is expected to last more than a week, began Wednesday morning with opening statements after the attorneys agreed on a pair of alternate jurors to go with the seven men and five women who were selected for the jury earlier in the week.
During his opening statement, Red Arrow told the jury that most of the facts in the case were indisputable — that Marlowe, Mills, the two young children and the two teens were traveling east on Fort Dobbs Road in an EZ-Go golf cart when they were crashed into by Harmon’s westbound Honda. The evidence will show, the prosecutor added, that Harmon’s blood-alcohol content was .12 — above the legal limit of .08 — and that he had a prescription painkiller and marijuana in his system at the time of the crash.
Michael, Bentley and Jada Marlowe lost their lives as a result of the collision, and Amy Mills, Bailey Marlowe and Teagan Murphy were seriously injured.
The major issue in dispute at the trial, Red Arrow said, is the proximate cause of the crash. The evidence, he told the jury, will prove that Harmon was responsible and prove he is guilty of all charges beyond a reasonable doubt.
During the defense’s opening statement, Ken Darty asked the jury to keep an open mind and to not form an opinion about Harmon’s guilt or innocence until they have heard all of the evidence and been instructed on the law by Superior Court Judge Thomas Lock.
According to Darty, an eyewitness who was traveling behind Harmon on Fort Dobbs Road at the time of the deadly crash will testify that the defendant was not speeding or driving erratically prior to the collision and that Harmon’s vehicle “darted left to avoid hitting something.”
After the crash, Harmon called 9-1-1 to report the accident and remained on the scene. He also found Bailey and took the child to her mother, Darty added.
Harmon told the 9-1-1 operator immediately after the accident that the golf cart “pulled out in front of him and crossed the line,” Darty told the jury.
The evidence will also show that Michael Marlowe had been drinking alcohol on the evening of the crash, according to Darty. Witnesses will also testify that the golf cart was not equipped with safety equipment, Darty added.
In addition to the first responders, the prosecutor also called Savannah Boltz, Jada Marlowe’s mother, to the witness stand on Wednesday. A nurse who has worked in the emergency department and operating room throughout her career, she testified about rushing to the accident scene and the hospital. She also detailed daughter’s injuries as well as the medical interventions that doctors at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center attempted after Jada was transported there from Iredell Memorial Hospital.
“That told me she would not make it through the night,” Boltz said.
The teen died nine days after the crash soon after a breathing machine was disconnected because tests showed she had no brain activity and would not recover, her mother said.
Teagan Murphy, who was 16 at the time of the crash, also testified Wednesday. She told the jury she did not remember anything about the crash.
She had spent the week before at the Marlowe’s house, and she and Jada spent the day of the crash swimming in the pool. After Michael and Amy got home from work with Bailey and Bentley, the six of them went to Mi Pueblo in Statesville for dinner. Michael had one beer at the restaurant but did not finish it, she said during cross-examination by Kaleigh Darty.
While the teen did not remember riding in the golf cart on the night of the accident, she said the six of them had been out riding in the golf cart three other nights that week. Michael drove and Amy typically rode up front with Bailey, while Jada, Teagan and Bentley were in the back seat. The golf cart did not have seatbelts, she said.
Trial testimony is scheduled to resume at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday.