Driver, passenger facing charges after deadly accident on Grinstead Drive

LOUISVILLE, Ky (WHAS11) - A Clarksville, Ind. man may soon face murder charges after a car accident on Grinstead Drive that killed one of his passengers.
 
The crash happened over just before 12:30 a.m. Saturday, but the victim died Wednesday morning at University Hospital.
 
Police say John Koerner was driving a Honda Accord when he lost control on a curve on the 2400 block of Grinstead Drive and slammed sideways into a small tree. The crash did seemingly minimal damage to the back driver's side of the car, but it was enough to eject 33-year-old Jacob Mower of Clarksville.
 
Police say Mower was a passenger sitting in the back seat and was not wearing a seatbelt.,

"Right now, we are doing forensic testing to determine who was sitting where in the car. We're doing toxicology reports on the occupants of the car to determine if alcohol was a factor. We do suspect alcohol as being a factor just by our senses that night. But, further testing is being done and results are pending," LMPD Officer Greg Kellerman said.
 
Witnesses said they saw Koerner and another passenger, 32-year-old Kristy Harper, take off down the street, leaving Mower lying on the ground.

"There were about two witnesses that were almost nearly struck head on by this car, they had stopped just short of them as they struck the tree and saw initially what happened," Kellerman said.
 
Koerner and Harper were both charged with leaving the scene of an accident. Both are out of jail on bond. Koerner was also charged with assault, wanton endangerment, and DUI. The Commonwealth's Attorney is reviewing the case and will decide if those charges will be upgraded.
 
We stopped by both the addresses listed on the citations for Koerner and Harper, neither was available for comment.
 
This isn't Koerner's or Harper's first brush with the law. In 2001, Koerner was charged with leaving the scene of an accident. That charge was later dismissed. Harper has two previous DUI charges.