IFN Staff
A jury was selected Tuesday afternoon for the Iredell County Superior Court trial of a Statesville man facing numerous felony charges related to a crash involving a golf cart that claimed the lives of two children and their father and seriously injured three others in June of 2022.
Opening statements are scheduled for Wednesday morning in the prosecution of Austin Harmon, 26. He 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 the June 13, 2022, crash on Fort Dobbs Road near Statesville.
In a trial that is expected to last at least a week, Assistant District Attorney Mikko Red Arrow will attempt to prove to the jury of seven men and five women that Harmon was legally impaired when his Honda Accord collided with a golf cart driven by Michael Marlowe on Fort Dobbs Road — and that Harmon’s impairment was the primary cause of the crash.
Marlowe and his 5-year-old son Bentley died at the scene and his 13-year-old daughter Jada succumbed to her injuries days later. Marlowe’s girlfriend, Amy Mills, the couple’s 2-year-old daughter Bailey, and a family friend, 16-year-old Teagan Murphy were all seriously injured.
Defense attorney Ken Darty, through his questioning of prospective jurors on Tuesday, indicated that the case against Harmon is not as strong as law enforcement and some social media commentators have led the public to believe. The testimony of an eyewitness is expected to be at odds with the opinion of a state motor vehicle crash reconstructionist, Darty said Tuesday. The evidence will also show that Marlowe had consumed alcohol prior to operating the golf cart, he added.
Before sending the jury and two alternates home Tuesday afternoon, Judge Thomas H. Lock instructed the panel not to discuss the case with anyone or read any media accounts related to the crash.
Harmon is free on a $750,000 bond. He has been arrested multiple times during the three-plus years since the crash on Fort Dobbs Road.