18-year-old driver charged with reckless homicide of HSE football star

By MICHAELA SPRINGER & DANIELLE ZULKOSKY
WISH-TV | wishtv.com

Bond was set at $50,000 on Monday afternoon for the driver arrested in the death of a former Hamilton Southeastern High School football star.

Trey Williams, 18, was formally charged with a low-level felony count of reckless homicide, and a misdemeanor count of reckless driving causing injury for his role in the March 1 death of Mason Alexander. He also was charged with a misdemeanor count of having a fake government ID.

The prosecuting attorneys and Williams’ defense attorney previous agreed to a lower bond of $10,000 but the judge overruled that suggestion. Williams is also banned from driving a car while on bond.

“That was the primary thing that we were interested in is the defendant agreeing that he would give up his driver’s license,” said Joshua Kocher, the Hamilton County deputy prosecutor working the case. “The court clearly thought it should be a higher amount and we were perfectly fine with that.”

“The court is obligated to weigh those rights of Mr. Williams against any danger to society therefore the court is going to set Mr. Williams bond at $50,000 cash surety,” said Judge Andrew R. Bloch of the Hamilton Circuit Court.

Alexander’s uncle, Ravhy Murray, spoke to the media after the initial hearing.

“As a parent myself and knowing what Kelly invested, she gave more love than anything and Mason was a bright and shining star. He had his whole future ahead of him,” Murray said. “He was excited about going to the University of Pittsburgh. And we were excited to come and watch him play. And unfortunately, that has all been extinguished. Took less than five minutes to wipe all that away, so it’s been very difficult on the family.”

Murray said his family prays for the Williams family knowing they are going through a difficult time as well.

“There’s no winners in a case like this,” Murray said. “They have their child, young adult, that’s potentially facing prison time. But we also have Mason that’s receiving a sentence of eternity.”

News 8 previously reported that around 9 p.m. March 1, a BMW occupied by a juvenile driver and Alexander was traveling southbound on Florida Road, near Geist Park and 113th Street. The BMW moved into the northbound lane to pass another vehicle while a Toyota RAV4 was coming northbound at the same time.

The BMW and the Toyota swerved to avoid a collision. Both vehicles drove off the east side of the road.

The Toyota hit a mailbox, while the BMW hit a tree and caught on fire.

Williams, who was 17 at the time of the crash, turned 18 in April. He was detained May 1 and had his juvenile case waived to Hamilton Circuit Court on Friday.

Alexander’s family last week told News 8’s Reyna Revelle they believe the decision to try Williams as adult an adult says “things are moving in the right direction.” The family is also advocating for improvements to prevent similar deaths. “[The family says] it all starts with a simple conversation at home about the dangers of reckless driving,” Revelle reported.

News 8’s Gregg Montgomery contributed to this report.

This story was originally published by WISH-TV at wishtv.com/news/crime-watch-8/driver-mason-alexander-crash-in-court.