BELMONT, N.C. — An alleged drunken driver who hit two men on the side of the road last week in Belmont was released from jail two days after she was arrested under a $250,000 bond.
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Cousins Dylan Bailey and Tyler Murks were on their way back from a fishing trip when they heard their truck make a strange sound so they pulled over on South Point Road.
That was when Ashley Whistlehunt hit them, police said.
Dylan Bailey said he was tossed 30 feet in the air and 30 feet past his cousin Tyler Murks.
Whistlehunt’s SUV flipped and hit Murks in the back.
“Dylan was able to crawl over to him and my son asked him if he was going to die,” said Heather Craig, Murks’ mother.
“I’m alive,” Murks said Monday from a hospital bed. “I’m blessed for that.”
It took three days before Murks was able to walk with a walker.
He worries that he will not be able to hold his one-year-old daughter.
“There is no telling how long it’s going to be before I can pick her up to just play with her, you know?” Murks said. “It’s just rough on me.”
Dylan Bailey’s mother said the men’s lives are changed forever because of Whistlehunt, who police said had a blood alcohol limit of 0.16, which is twice the legal limit.
“One bad decision caused all of this for these boys and for the rest of their life,” said Pamela Bailey, mother.
Whistlehunt was charged with DWI, felonious injury by vehicle, and failure to reduce speed.
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