Insets, from top to bottom clockwise: Austin Harmon, Jada Marlowe, Bentley Marlowe and Michael Marlowe (Iredell County Sheriff’s Office/GoFundMe). Background: The scene of the drunk driving golf cart crash in North Carolina that was caused by Austin Harmon and took the lives of Michael Marlowe and his two children, Bentley Marlowe and Jada Marlowe, in 2022 (WCNC/YouTube).
This week, a North Carolina man faced the consequences of a tragic incident that claimed the lives of a father and his two children while leaving others injured. The court found Austin Harmon guilty of causing a fatal car crash by driving under the influence, ultimately slamming into a golf cart carrying the victims.
Todd Lendernan, the chief of the Iredell County Rescue Squad, provided a haunting testimony during Harmon’s trial, as reported by WSOC, a local ABC affiliate. “I saw a baby lying in the road,” Lendernan recounted. “I saw one face down, deceased. Another had people working on it, and the mother was pleading, ‘Please get me more tourniquets!’”
The devastating accident, which occurred in June 2022, led to the convictions of Harmon, aged 26, for driving while impaired and felony serious injury by vehicle. The crash claimed the lives of Michael Marlowe and his children, Bentley, aged 5, and Jada, aged 13. Michael’s fiancée, Amy Mills, along with their 2-year-old daughter Bailey, survived but sustained severe injuries. A family friend, Teagan Murphy, 16, was also injured in the incident.
Amy Mills, who lost part of her leg due to the crash, shared her harrowing experience in court. “I knew we were going to get hit,” Mills testified. Reflecting on the moment of impact and her daughter Bailey, who suffered multiple fractures, Mills said, “She was so little. I just threw her and hoped for the best.”
Harmon, whose blood alcohol level was reportedly 0.12, veered across the centerline on Fort Dobbs Road in Statesville, colliding with the victims’ golf cart. Although Jada Marlowe initially survived the crash, she tragically succumbed to her injuries in the hospital.
Mills vividly recalled the chaos and her desperate search for Bailey amidst the wreckage. “I kept saying, ‘I have to find my kid. I needed my kid,’” she recounted, according to WSOC. “They went and got her, and they sat her behind me.”
Murphy, who was friends with Jada, said in court Monday before Harmon was sentenced that she carries “guilt from still being alive while she’s not,” according to Iredell Free News. Michael Marlowe’s father, Ed Marlowe, blasted Harmon for what he did and urged him to find remorse while behind bars, the Free News reports.
“He’s ruined all of our lives forever,” Ed Marlowe said.
It took jurors just six hours to convict Harmon. He was sentenced to serve a minimum of 20 years and maximum of 30 in prison. Harmon declined to speak during the hearing, but his lawyer offered up a statement claiming he was “inconsolable” after what happened.
“He would do anything to go back and undo the events of that day,” attorney Kaleigh Darty told the court, according to the Free News. “He understands the gravity of what was lost to the Marlowe family.”
