Father and 2 Kids Killed After Drunk Driver Slams into Family’s Golf Cart

A North Carolina man has been sentenced to at least 20 years in prison after a drunk-driving crash destroyed a young family’s life and sent shockwaves through the small community of Statesville.

Austin Harmon, 26, was found guilty Monday, Dec. 15, of three counts of felony death by vehicle, three counts of felony serious injury by vehicle, and driving while impaired. The conviction stems from a horrific June 2022 collision that killed 39-year-old Michael Marlowe and his two children, 13-year-old Jada and 5-year-old Bentley.

It was just after 10 p.m. on June 13, 2022, when Harmon’s Honda Accord barreled down Fort Dobbs Road and smashed into the Marlowe family’s golf cart. Six people were aboard. The impact was catastrophic.

Michael and his two children died instantly. His fiancée, Amy Mills, their toddler daughter, and a 16-year-old friend survived with devastating injuries.

Mills recalled the moment she realized the crash was coming — a split-second decision that likely saved her baby’s life.

“I knew we were going to get hit,” she testified tearfully. “She was so little. So I just threw her. I just threw her and hoped for the best.”

During the two-week trial, prosecutors described Harmon as “reckless and intoxicated,” driving far over the speed limit when his vehicle slammed into the golf cart.

Defense attorney Kaleigh Darty told the court Harmon was “remorseful and broken.”

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

But that remorse did little to comfort the grieving parents who packed the courtroom.

“Michael was my only son,” said Ed Marlowe, the victim’s father. “You ruined all of our lives forever.”

Jada’s mother, Savannah Boltz, offered Harmon a final message that silenced the courtroom.

“Be good,” she told him. “If you cannot be good for yourself, be good for Jada.”

According to family friends, Jada was a bright middle schooler who loved helping others and dreamed of becoming a nurse. Her younger brother Bentley had just finished preschool. “He loved swimming, bowling, and anything to do with Spiderman,” his obituary read.

The crash rattled the tight-knit Statesville community, where Michael Marlowe was a familiar face at local church events. Friends say the family’s faith was the center of their lives — and their church, First Presbyterian of Statesville, has rallied around Amy Mills and her surviving daughter.

“This wasn’t just an accident,” one community member wrote online. “It was a tragedy caused by someone’s choice to drive drunk. And it cost three beautiful lives.”