WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – Decades in prison. That’s the recommendation for the man convicted of crashing his car into the Jones family of Nickerson, killing Trey Jones, and critically injuring his wife, Amy Jones, and their daughter, Ava Jones.
The jury recommended Michael Hurley serve 75 years in prison after about an hour of deliberation on Tuesday. It came a day after jurors convicted Hurley of murder, driving under the influence and three counts of assault.
The jury’s recommendation is five years more than prosecutors asked for. They also say Hurley should serve the sentences consecutively.
Amy says this is a step toward closure, but closure may never come for the family.
“I’m so glad to get this chapter over with, and then we can move on to working on Ava and my continued recovery. I don’t know if we’ll ever have closure because, with Ava’s injuries, she may never fully recover, but we can take it step by step and hope for that,” Amy said.
Amy and Trey’s youngest son, Creek Jones, was with his family during the crash. He was not seriously injured. Their oldest son, William “Hunter” Jones, was not in Kentucky when the crash happened.
Prosecutors say blood tests show Hurley had deadly levels of fentanyl in his system at the time of the crash.
“As far as I’m concerned, he shouldn’t have even been on the street,” said Mary Jones, Trey’s mother.
Hurley’s sentence is not official. A judge will consider the jury’s recommendation, the pre-sentence investigation and arguments from both the prosecution and the defense team before sentencing Hurley on Dec. 13.
