Drunk Driver Slammed Into Family’s Golf Cart, Killing Father and 2 Kids By Christine Pelisek

A North Carolina man was sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in prison for crashing into a golf cart and killing a father and two kids.

Austin Harmon, 26, was found guilty on Monday, Dec. 15 of three counts of felony death by vehicle, three counts of felony serious injury by vehicle, and driving while impaired in connection with the deaths of Michael Marlowe, 39, and his son Bentley, 5, and 13-year-old daughter Jada, WBTV reported.

The trial lasted two weeks, per WCNC.

Harmon was driving a Honda Accord when he allegedly collided with the golf cart carrying Marlowe and five others on June 13, 2022, per Iredell Free Press, citing court testimony. Marlowe’s fiancée, the couple’s 2-year-old daughter and a 16-year-old were seriously injured, Iredell Free Press reported.

The crash occurred around 10 p.m. on Fort Dobbs Road near Statesville, WCNC reported.

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During the trial, Marlowe’s fiancée Amy Mills testified that she tossed her daughter from the golf cart just before the crash.

“Because that was my first instinct,” she said, WSOC-TV reported. “I knew we were going to get hit. She was so little. So, I just threw her. I just threw her and hoped for the best.”

Harmon’s defense attorney Kaleigh Darty told the judge that Harmon expressed remorse, per the Free Press.

“He would do anything to go back and undo the events of that day,” she said, according to the Free Press. “He understands the gravity of what was lost to the Marlowe family,” per the Free Press.

During sentencing, Jada’s mother Savannah Boltz said her daughter was a forgiving person and told Harmon to “Be good. If you cannot be good for yourself, be good for Jada,” according to the Free Press.

Michael’s father Ed Marlowe told the judge that Harmon “ruined all of our lives forever,” the Free Press reported.

According to an online obituary, Bentley just graduated from preschool at First Presbyterian Church. “He loved swimming, bowling, and four wheeling,” the obituary read. “Bentley absolutely loved all things related to Spiderman!”

Multiple GoFundMe pages have been set up to support family members of the victims.