Former UK student said he had 2 beers before child was hit. Witness says it was more
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Marco Shemwell’s death: Former UK student on trial
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Jacob Heil told police he had two beers the day he hit Marco Shemwell, 4, with a car, according to a recording played in the former University of Kentucky student’s reckless homicide trial.
But a fellow Alpha Tau Omega fraternity pledge who was with Heil the morning of the crash said Heil had “three or four” beers.
“Every time I drank one, he drank one,” said Hunter Haun, a UK student and Alpha Tau Omega pledge at the same time as Heil. “Or every time he grabbed one, I would also grab one.”
The two were “bartenders” at an ATO party the morning of the crash — Sept. 15, 2018. ATO was holding a tailgate party on Waller Avenue prior to a UK home football game. The two had to keep beer stocked for the party and provide attendees with alcohol. They’d been told by active members of the fraternity that they weren’t allowed to get drunk.
Haun said he had four beers. He said he and Heil spaced out their drinking. They consumed roughly one beer per hour at the party with the hopes of not getting drunk.
Haun’s testimony contradicted Heil’s statement to police shortly after he was arrested on the 15th. He spoke with police at the Lexington-Fayette County Detention Center after he was charged with DUI for being over the legal BAC limit for someone under 21. Heil’s blood-alcohol content was between .061 and .068 at the time of the crash, according to investigators.
The legal limit for people under 21 is .02.
“During the party, I had a couple beers,” Heil told police. “Didn’t feel out of hand, didn’t feel out of control.”
Heil’s interview with police was recorded and played during the trial Tuesday. Heil stated again later in the interview that he had two beers. He said he knew he was intoxicated when he left the party at roughly 12:30 p.m. He said he drank the beers around 9:20 a.m.
“I wasn’t ready to drive at the time ... I knew I was impaired,” Heil told police.
A “sober driver” who had also been at the Waller Avenue party drove Heil’s car to the ATO fraternity house on campus, according to Heil’s interview with police. Heil had “a couple sips of beer” at the fraternity house while he and others watched some of the UK game, which started at noon that day.
Heil said he felt fine to drive later and he drove himself and others to Joella’s Hot Chicken for lunch that day. The crash happened just before 2 p.m., after Heil left Joella’s.
“I didn’t feel anything different with my driving,” Heil told police.
Haun said in court Tuesday that he thought Heil was fine, and he wasn’t showing any signs of intoxication during the party. Haun left the party after 11 a.m. and didn’t see Heil the rest of the day, he said in court.
Multiple witnesses have testified in the first two days of Heil’s trial that he didn’t show physical signs of being impaired. He didn’t slur his speech or stumble, witnesses said.
But Heil was arrested at the scene of the crash after showing signs of impairment on field sobriety tests, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors have argued there’s evidence Heil didn’t stay in his lane when he struck Marco on Cooper Drive.
Dr. Gregory James Davis, a doctor at UK who testified in court Monday, said there wasn’t a threshold of intoxication that would immediately cause someone to have slurred speech or appear to be obviously impaired. But hand-eye coordination and other abilities crucial to driving a car could still be affected.
Heil told police he didn’t “remember ever being off the road.”
“I felt like I was on the road and the kid was like right by the road and was walking toward it and I just hit him and it was one of those moments where I was just like — everything stopped,” Heil told police. “ ... I saw the kid and I literally just broke down.”
Heil’s attorneys have argued that Heil wasn’t at fault in the crash because Marco ran into the road. A Lexington officer who investigated the crash testified Tuesday that Marco ran into the road, based on evidence he gathered in his investigation.
Earlier Tuesday, Marco’s father recounted his memory of the crash. He was with Marco and Marco’s brother, Maximo, when the crash happened. The father and sons were walking back to their car after leaving the UK football game. Ben Shemwell told the jury he looked down and saw Maximo and Marco standing next to him on the side of the road right before the crash.
Heil’s trial is expected to continue through Thursday. He’s facing one to five years in prison if he’s convicted on the reckless homicide charge.
This story was originally published October 12, 2021 at 7:13 PM.
