LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The trial for the man accused of being on drugs when he crashed into a Kansas family on a downtown Louisville sidewalk in 2022, killing one and injuring two others, continued for the third day on Wednesday.

Michael Hurley admitted to doing drugs before hitting a Kansas family with his car at 2nd and Market streets on July 5, 2022. 

The family he hit had traveled to Louisville for their 17-year-old’s basketball tournament. The father, 42-year-old Trey Jones, died shortly after being struck. His wife, Amy, and daughter, Ava, were seriously hurt and were in town for weeks in rehab in Louisville.

Hurley is charged with murder, multiple counts of assault and driving under the influence. He is facing up to 70 years in prison. The trial, which started Monday, is expected to last at least through this week.

On Wednesday, the state argued Hurley's blood sample results showed he had a potentially deadly level of fentanyl in his system during the crash. But the defense is disputing the results, using witnesses to set up an argument about an inconsistent chain of custody. 

Attorneys played out body camera footage from the day. In the video, several bystanders are try to help the family.

Hurley said he was driving to inquire about a job when he realized he was too late and tried to quickly make a turn "but went straight, instead," veering off the road and running over the family, according to police body camera footage played in court.

While prosecutors said Hurley nodded off at the scene of the wreck, Hurley claimed he was praying. He was seen walking around freely in the footage.

Some people in the courtroom gasped Tuesday when a surveillance video of the wreck was played for the jury. Police body camera footage showed the aftermath of the wreck, with the family bloodied and spread out while people tried to help them. 

Deborah Johnson was a witness to the crash and shared what she saw in court.

"It was going pretty fast, the view of the family was obscured by a black pickup truck that had pulled up a little bit," Johnson said. "When the car hit, I saw the bodies flying above the truck."

Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Scott Drabestadt said during his opening statement Monday that Hurley had "nothing but selfishness and wanton disregard for the safety of others" when he drove his vehicle with blood levels showing he had five times above what is considered a lethal dose of fentanyl in his system.

Hurley didn't stop for 100 feet after he hit the Jones family with his car at 2nd and Market streets on July 5, 2022, killing the father, 42-year-old Trey Jones, who had brought his family to Louisville for their 17-year-old's basketball tournament.

"He didn't even begin to brake until well after he plowed into the Jones family," Drabestadt said in his opening statements, shortly after a jury was chosen. "That's how wasted and out of his mind he was."

But Hurley's attorney, Jordan Potts, said that while "there is no denying" what happened was a "tragedy," it was an accident as Hurley was tired from working all day and "not as intoxicated" as prosecutors say.

Potts said there is clearly a problem with the blood results as there is no way Hurley could have that much fentanyl in his system and still talk to police officers at the scene and do as well as he did in the field sobriety test.

"The blood (test) doesn't make sense," Potts told jurors. 

A police officer testified that Hurley failed the field sobriety test. After he was arrested, Hurley told police he would be fired from his job if he missed work the next day, according to body camera footage. 

Potts said Hurley had taken hydrocodone for pain from a dental procedure but the wreck was due to his client getting up at 3:30 a.m. for work that day.

"This was someone who was tired," Potts told jurors. "At no point did Mr. Hurley ever wish for anything like this to happen."

Court is expected to start again on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. Amy and Ava Jones aren't expected to testify until Thursday.


'Still recovering'

Ava Jones was a high school basketball star who had committed to play at the University of Iowa. She had scholarship offers in three sports. Earlier this year, Iowa said Jones will take a medical disqualification and retire from basketball.

Ava Jones and her parents

Ava Jones and her parents pose with a University of Iowa flag after she committed to play basketball for the Hawkeyes.

Drabestandt said she can't even shoot a basketball with her injuries now, including a traumatic brain injury, and her life "will never be the same."

"She is a lonely college student trying to get through life now because of his decisions," he said.

Amy Jones has had repeated surgeries on her leg and suffered nearly two dozen fractures.

"It has just been a lot of recovering," Amy Jones said to WDRB News on Monday. "Physical therapy, doctor's appointments. I am still recovering and Ava has had multiple surgeries, same as me. So it's just been a lot of time in the doctor's office."

Ava has another surgery coming up to correct her vision as she continues speech and occupational therapy.

Amy said she and Ava will testify this week. It will be the first time they see Hurley in person.

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