A rising basketball star has lost her father and was hospitalized in critical condition after a car struck her and her family while they were walking on a sidewalk in Louisville, Kentucky, last week.
William “Trey” Arthur Jones III, a teacher and the father of Iowa recruit Ava Jones, died July 5 after the accident. He was 42.
The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office confirmed Trey Jones’ death to the Louisville Courier-Journal.
Trey Jones, his wife, Amy, Ava and her younger brother were all struck by the car in downtown Louisville while they were visiting the city. Ava Jones — a top basketball player at Nickerson High School in Nickerson, Kansas, who had verbally committed to the University of Iowa two days prior to the accident — and her family were in Louisville for the Run 4 the Roses girls’ basketball tournament, in which Ava Jones, a 6-foot-2 senior, was playing with her high school team, according to ESPN.
Amy and Ava Jones were listed in critical condition as of July 8, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal. Ava Jones’ younger brother was treated for minor injuries.
“Ava is stable but critical,” Mary Jones, the mother of Trey, told the Hutchinson News in Kansas. “Amy is stable but critical, too, but Amy’s got a lot of things going. They’re both still on a [ventilator]. They’re trying to get Ava off, but it’s a process. Just slow going.”
Michael Hurley, 33, of Lexington, Indiana, was arrested was identified by court documents as the driver of the vehicle that struck the Jones family, local news channel WDRB-TV in Louisville reported. Investigators told the TV station that Hurley was trying to make a turn “but failed to negotiate the turn.” He drove onto the sidewalk, where he struck the family.
Hurley told police responding to the scene that he had just taken the opioid hydrocodone and was “so tired he could not make the turn,” according to the arrest report, WDRB reported.
He is being held at Louisville Metro Corrections on charges of assault, operating a motor vehicle under the influence and driving without an operator’s license. The Courier-Journal reported that after Trey Jones’ death, police told the newspaper that the Jefferson County Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney charged Hurley with one count of murder in addition to the earlier charges. His bond was set at $500,000 cash.