The jury trial for a Sumner resident accused of killing a 7-year-old is set to kick off next week, two and a half years after the incident has slogged through the court system.
We covered the situation with Chad Hayes, 33, from the very outset, in July 2011, when the death of David Kearby occurred. The twists and turns that the defense has taken in the case are many, and have not been chronicled by mainstream media. But now that the trial is actually pending, and is set to begin with jury selection next week (Tuesday, February 18, 2014, at 9 a.m.), a review of the case is warranted…and this is what’s offered in this Read the Lead, “Trial for Lawrence man accused of DUI with death to kick off in mid-February“:
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Chad Hayes
LAWRENCE CO.—The jury trial for a man accused of running over and killing a 7-year-old child in 2011 is set to kick off in mid-February.
Delays in the case of Chad Hayes, 33, caused the case to drag out from the moment it was filed on July 28, 2011, when Lisa Wade was Lawrence County prosecutor, until the planned jury trial date of Feb. 18.
Chris Quick is now state’s attorney in Lawrence, but he won’t be handling the bulk of the prosecutorial duties in Hayes’ case; instead, that will be done by Special Prosecutor Mike Vujovich, who was assisting Wade with the more serious crimes in her caseload almost since the beginning of her single term as state’s attorney, since she didn’t really have much trial experience.
Hayes is charged with Aggravated Driving Under the Influence Causing an Accident or Death, when, on the morning of July 25, 2011, he was driving in Sumner and is alleged to have struck little David Kearby while Kearby was with a group of children gathered in the downtown Sumner area on their bicycles.
Police reports indicate that Hayes rounded a corner and instead of slowing or stopping, accelerated and struck Kearby, whereupon the boy’s bike was caught by the underside of the van with the boy still on/entangled in it. The van traveled several yards without Hayes fully aware that there had been an accident, but with Hayes’ own children in the van yelling that something had happened.
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