Teen Driver Charged with Murder in Moffett Death

A seventeen-year-old McCracken County youth is in custody, charged with murder, DUI, first-degree assault, first-degree wanton endangerment, and driving without a license in connection to the death of a Paducah Sun employee back in June.

McCracken County Sheriff Jon Hayden says the boy was driving a 2007 Hummer eastbound on Blandville Road around 8:30 am on June 20, when he crossed the center line and hit head-on a 2009 Dodge minivan being driven by 34-year-old Ezra Mofett Jr. of Paducah. The collision killed Moffett.

Several witnesses reported that immediately prior to the wreck, the Hummer was speeding, and driving in a reckless manner, swerving from lane to lane. In addition, several drivers told officers that they had almost been hit by the Hummer prior to the crash. 

The teen driver did not have a valid driver's license. There was another occupant in the SUV, also 17 years of age.

Both were taken by ambulance to Western Baptist Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. 

Detectives had to obtain a serarch warrant to obtain blood and urine samples of the teen, as he refused to voluntarily provide them.