DUI murder cases are on the rise due to new laws that incorporate pain pill abuse with alcohol.
Two DUI death suspects were in court today. Malen Mitchell Jr. entered a not guilty plea to the DUI murder and fleeing the scene charge. Malen Mitchell Jr. was allegedly impaired in July when he crossed the center line and killed 22-year-old mother of four, Tiffany Blankenship. In the same courthouse, James Slone also faced one DUI and two murder charges. James Slone allegedly crossed the center line and killed Jeff Hamilton and Karen Mitchell.
Prosecutors in Kentucky say that DUI murder charges are being pursued more aggressively.
Commonwealth Attorney Brent Turner said, “it is a murder, not intentional, but a wanton murder, and we need to do all we can to stop this kind of behavior. And we are getting more DUI cases related to pills.”
Kentucky recently passed a drug to driving law that focuses on the challenge of detecting pain pill abuse while behind the wheel. Even with the new law, it’s still a challenge to prove a DUI and related crimes like murder by pill abuse compared to proving the crimes related to alcohol.