INDEPENDENCE, Ky. -- Two counts of murder await a driver involved in a wreck that claimed the lives of a young married couple from Covington, Kentucky, just before midnight on New Year’s Eve.
Mark Huffman, 58, of Independence, Kentucky, was arrested Friday morning by Independence Police Detective Jeff Young. Huffman had been receiving treatment for injuries sustained in the fatal crash.
The arrest warrant notes that University of Cincinnati Medical Center records indicated Huffman’s blood-alcohol content was nearly three times Kentucky’s legal limit of 0.08. He also tested positive for Oxycodone, opiates and benzodiazepines.
According to Kenton County Prosecutor Rob Sanders, Huffman is being held without bond in the Kenton County Detention Center. Huffman faces 20 to 50 years or life in prison for each count of murder.
Huffman’s arraignment is scheduled for 8 a.m. Monday, Jan. 25 in the Kenton County Justice Center.
The crash happened about 10 p.m. Dec. 31, 2015, at the intersection of Kentucky 17 and Pelly Road. Huffman failed to negotiate a turn onto Pelly Road, police said, and ended up in the wrong lane, where his car struck an SUV with David McNay, 31, and Ella McNay, 24. Ella McNay was pronounced dead at the scene, while David McNay died at UC Medical Center, leaving behind two small children.
