UPDATE: Jacob Heil trial continues, “he was visibly upset”
UPDATE POSTED OCTOBER 13, 2021 AT 10:23 P.M.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – Jacob Heil’s trial continues.
Wednesday, the jury, attorneys, and Heil visited the scene of the September 2018 collision on Cooper Drive.
Earlier in the day, the jury heard from witness Crystal Johnson, who says she was standing behind the Shemwells right before the collision happened. She testified that she didn’t recall Heil’s car going off the road, telling 911 dispatchers when she called for help that “somebody hit a little kid.”
Lexington Police Officer Brandon Muravchick, who works with the Collision Reconstruction Unit, also testified. Muravchick responded to the scene, and arrested Heil with a DUI charge after conducting a standard field sobriety test.
“He was visibly upset, you could see that he was sitting down, he was, he was shaking, just as anybody would be involved in a collision of this magnitude,” said Officer Muravchick.
The jury heard testimony from a medical examiner who did Marco Shemwell’s autopsy. The examiner presented photos and diagrams illustrating Marco’s injuries from the crash.
Tate’s Creek Presbyterian youth pastor McClellan Holt, who says he is close to Heil, also testified. Holt says Heil called him prior to the crash and did not sound “intoxicated or impaired.”
The court also saw body camera footage from Officer Muravchick immediately after the collision. In the footage, Heil admits to drinking two beers:
“I’m going to tell you right now I came from the tailgate of a football game and I’ve had two beers,” said Heil.
Closing arguments and deliberations are set for Thursday. It will be up to a jury to decide if the collision was an accident or a crime.
Earlier in the day, the jury heard from witness Crystal Johnson, who says she was standing behind the Shemwells right before the collision happened. She testified that she didn’t recall Heil’s car going off the road, telling 911 dispatchers when she called for help that “somebody hit a little kid.”
Lexington Police Officer Brandon Muravchick, who works with the Collision Reconstruction Unit, also testified. Muravchick responded to the scene, and arrested Heil with a DUI charge after conducting a standard field sobriety test.
“He was visibly upset, you could see that he was sitting down, he was, he was shaking, just as anybody would be involved in a collision of this magnitude,” said Officer Muravchick.
The jury heard testimony from a medical examiner who did Marco Shemwell’s autopsy. The examiner presented photos and diagrams illustrating Marco’s injuries from the crash.
Tate’s Creek Presbyterian youth pastor McClellan Holt, who says he is close to Heil, also testified. Holt says Heil called him prior to the crash and did not sound “intoxicated or impaired.”
The court also saw body camera footage from Officer Muravchick immediately after the collision. In the footage, Heil admits to drinking two beers:
“I’m going to tell you right now I came from the tailgate of a football game and I’ve had two beers,” said Heil.
Closing arguments and deliberations are set for Thursday. It will be up to a jury to decide if the collision was an accident or a crime.
UPDATE POSTED OCTOBER 12, 2021 AT 11:55 A.M.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – Testimonies continue in the trial of Jacob Heil who is accused of driving drunk, hitting and killing four-year old Marco Shemwell.
Matthew Merker, robbery and homicide sergeant for the Lexington Police Department testified Tuesday morning. During his testimony, a recording was played of Heil’s interview with Merker and another officer the night of the incident at the Fayette County Detention Center.
In the recording, Heil said he “physically and mentally does not remember being way off the road.”
“The kid was right by the road,” Heil said. “I hit him and it was one of those moments where everything stopped.”
Officer Greg Marlin with the Bureau of Special Operations, Collision and Reconstruction Unit is the latest to testify in the trial.
ORIGINAL STORY POSTED OCTOBER 11, 2021 AT 10:10 P.M.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – An accident, or a crime?
Opening statements and testimony were heard on the opening day of a high profile trial in Lexington where a former UK student is accused of driving drunk and hitting and killing a four-year old boy.
“And I remember saying over and over again, not my baby, not my baby, please God not my baby” said Liz Shemwell.
Emotional testimony heard Monday from the mother of 4-year-old Marco Shemwell, who was hit by a car and killed in September of 2018.
The driver of that car, then 18-year old UK student Jacob Heil, was driving along Cooper Drive when he veered off the road and hit Shemwell, who was coming home from the UK football game that day with his dad, according to police.
Police say Heil admitted to drinking at a tailgating event that September morning hosted by the fraternity Alpha Tau Omega where he was a pledge. That fraternity is no longer on campus.
Heil was charged with reckless homicide and DUI.
“What I remember most is that I heard Ben’s voice just shaking, a lot like mine is right now, and he was crying and he just said babe we’re in trouble, we need to pray” said Liz Shemwell.
Liz testified that her son was excited to have a daddy-son day at the football game…that she was out running errands when her husband texted her ‘911’.
“And he just said we were hit, and Marco was hit bad” said Liz Shemwell.
The family donated Marco’s organs once they knew he wouldn’t make it…he was declared brain dead the Monday after he was hit.
“The unspeakable happened to his dad, to his mother, to his family and to the young man driving the car that hit him” said Christopher Spedding.
That’s Heil’s attorney Christopher Spedding, who argued 4-year-old Shemwell was hit because he stepped out into the road, calling what happened a traumatic situation…but an accident, not a crime.
Scene photographs and body camera footage of Heil was shown to the jury. Heil can be seen in the video telling officers he had two beers earlier that day.
“I had two beers, I am not going to lie to you, I had two beers” said Jacob Heil.
According to court records, Heil had a blood-alcohol level of 0.051. The legal limit for those under 21 is .02.
Lexington police officers who were on the scene also testified before the court adjourned just after 4:30 P.M.
The trial is set to resume at 8:30 Tuesday morning.
It’s scheduled to last up to four days.
