‘Killing him over and over’: A Hopkinsville mom’s battle for the truth about her son’s death

HOPKINSVILLE, Ky. — As kin gathered at her home three days before Christmas, Nancy Tucker expected her son Adrian to drop by during his dinner break. She knew he was excited to see the family. But she wasn’t worried when he didn’t show; he must have been held up at work.

A  few hours later his girlfriend called screaming. “They’re saying Adrian has been in an accident and somebody is killed.”

She didn’t know it at the time, but on that night almost three years ago, Nancy Tucker was beginning an odyssey to uncover the circumstances of her son’s death. She had to pry the puzzle pieces from public officials. What little help she received from a Kentucky Supreme Court ruling was soon ended for others by the General Assembly. She couldn’t understand why the driver who killed her son wasn’t tested for drugs or alcohol, and all along she had to fight to get the most basic information.

Nancy Tucker, 58, is still seeking answers, but she believes the life of her son, a Black man, was devalued by a system that threw what look to her like lucky breaks at the well-connected young white man who drove 90 mph in a 35-mph zone, crossed the center line and slammed into Adrian Tucker’s car, killing him.

She was ready to urge a state board to reject early release for Jaden Johnson, who was scheduled for a parole hearing Tuesday after serving one year of a five-year sentence. On Friday, she was notified that the parole hearing would be rescheduled for January.

Jack Daniel’s and burnt blunts

Nancy Tucker’s odyssey began on Dec. 22, 2023, as Adrian Tucker, 34, left the Metalsa auto plant, turning left onto a stretch of two-lane road that runs through the Hopkinsville Industrial Park. It was around 7 p.m.

Hurtling toward him, Johnson, 18, had ignored his two passengers’ warnings to slow down even though they talked about seeing Adrian Tucker’s car ahead; a whiskey bottle and marijuana were found in his vehicle, as Nancy would learn only after winning an appeal that forced Hopkinsville Police to turn over records they had withheld.

Johnson’s Nissan slammed into the Honda, wrapping it around a tree. Adrian Tucker’s body had to be mechanically extracted from the mangled car.

Police reported a strong odor of marijuana emanating from Johnson’s vehicle and later found a Jack Daniel’s bottle, marijuana pieces and three “burnt blunts” (emptied cigars filled with marijuana) in the car. 

Kentucky law requires the investigating officer to seek a search warrant for blood testing when someone dies in a motor vehicle accident unless the testing has already been done by consent. No one sought the required warrant, and Johnson apparently was never tested, at least not in a way that would be useful in court.

Hopkinsville Police records and interviews with officials provide varied explanations, including that because Johnson was airlifted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center about 75 miles away in Nashville, police would have had to obtain the search warrant in Tennessee.

‘Your grandpa’s on his way’

At Johnson’s request, police summoned his step-grandfather, Henry Gould, to the crash scene. Gould was the long-time president of the local Fraternal Order of Police and is a special deputy in the Christian County Sheriff’s Office.

This exchange between an officer and Johnson can be heard on police recordings that Nancy Tucker obtained two years later:

“Hey, Jaden.”
“Yeah.”

“Your grandpa’s on his way, OK.”

“All right.”

“All right. No problem.”

At another point an officer expresses concern that “a bunch of people are walking around” the crime scene and is told by a colleague, “It’s all family,” meaning Johnson’s family.

Johnson told police that Adrian had “turned in front of him and he was unable to avoid the collision,” says a police report.

Johnson’s two passengers were transported by ambulance to Jennie Stuart Medical Center in Hopkinsville while Johnson was admitted to Vandy that night.

At 3:12 a.m. on Dec. 23, eight hours after the collision, a Hopkinsville Police report says Johnson was “stable and is just getting pain controlled.”  

Johnson was discharged from the Nashville hospital on Dec. 24, a spokesman for Vanderbilt Health told the Lantern.

Nancy Tucker saw a photo posted on Facebook by Johnson’s mother of him celebrating Christmas in bed. 

Not knowing is devastating

Nancy Tucker, her son’s next of kin, waited to hear from Hopkinsville Police, expecting that Johnson would be charged and arrested. 

But it would be eight months before he was arrested and jailed on $100,000 bond in connection with Adrian Tucker’s death. A grand jury indicted him for second-degree manslaughter, punishable by five to 10 years.

Just a few months before the fatal crash, Kentucky had made vehicular homicide a Class B felony, punishable by 10 to 20 years for drivers who cause a death while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Law enforcement’s failure to obtain a toxicology report precluded the possibility of knowing whether Johnson was above the legal limit and charging him under the new law.

Kentucky also allows a charge of murder when a driver’s wanton conduct “under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life” causes a death. 

“I don’t want any parent to go through what I have endured,” Nancy Tucker said last week. “Not knowing what happened to your deceased child and not given any information regarding the death of your child is devastating — and more devastating when you find out that HPD (Hopkinsville Police Department) did not follow proper protocols and procedures regarding a fatal car crash. Other car fatalities, they follow protocols but this particular incident HPD didn’t.” 

After two prosecutors recused themselves over 20 months, Johnson in November 2025 agreed to plead guilty and serve the minimum five years in prison for second-degree manslaughter. There would be no trial.

One consolation for Nancy Tucker, Christian Circuit Judge John L. Atkins added an additional requirement: “85% parole eligibility.” 

Nancy Tucker took that to mean Johnson would have to serve 85% of the five-year sentence. So she was shocked in August to be notified that Johnson would come up for parole this month after serving 20% of his term. (Judges in Kentucky have no authority over parole eligibility dates; the General Assembly makes those rules and the parole board carries them out.)

‘He’s not welcome in my home,’ says grandfather

After Adrian’s death, it didn’t take long for Nancy to begin worrying — and social media to light up with speculation — that Johnson was getting favorable treatment because of his step-grandfather’s position in law enforcement.

Henry Gould, in a telephone interview with the Lantern, vigorously rejected any suggestion that he used his influence to help his grandson, especially “after what he did to me.”

About two months after the collision, on Feb. 27, 2024, Johnson stole two semi-automatic pistols from Gould and injured him by throwing a rock that struck his head. Johnson entered guilty pleas to felony theft and misdemeanor assault charges in July 2024 and was sentenced to two years and one day.

“He’s not welcome in my home. Even when he gets out, he’s not welcome in my home,” Gould said.

Gould said he had been told that commenters on social media were saying he was helping Johnson. He and his wife considered responding to the posts to let people know that he had had Johnson arrested, but he decided not to respond, thinking it “would just stir things up.” He said he and his wife agreed to “let the system play out, like it should have.”

The Hopkinsville Police detective who presented evidence about the collision to the grand jury told the Lantern he saw no effects on the investigation because of Gould’s connections to law enforcement. “Truthfully, I don’t think he had any influence whatsoever,” said Officer Jonathan Sholar, now a resource officer at Christian County High School.

Sholar had alerted Christian County Commonwealth’s Attorney Maureen Leamy to the Johnson-Gould  family connection. Leamy asked the attorney general to name a special prosecutor because she knows Gould “very well” and belongs to the FOP. She said Gould had supported her recent election bid and displayed a large campaign sign for her on the prominent site of his historic home. She said the county attorney also had a long, close relationship with Gould and that a special prosecutor was needed to avoid any appearance of favoritism in the prosecution.   

Another change in prosecutors

Appointed special prosecutor was Clayton Adams, commonwealth’s attorney of nearby Muhlenberg County. He presented the case to the grand jury which returned the manslaughter indictment in August 2024.

The next month, Nancy Tucker says she was alarmed when Adams told her he was going to offer Johnson the chance to plead to a lesser charge of reckless homicide, punishable by no more than five years. Johnson turned down the deal in September and again in November, Nancy Tucker said.

After a November court hearing, Nancy said, she and her family hurried into the hallway to talk to Adams and saw him walking and talking with Johnson’s mother and grandmother. She says the trio scattered when they saw her.

Then in January, on the afternoon before a hearing on releasing Johnson with an ankle monitor and no bond, Nancy rushed home to email the judge to inform him that Johnson had been arrested in Nashville on a charge of assaulting his girlfriend less than two weeks before the fatal collision, in addition to the assault and theft charges brought by his grandfather.

Adams had not pulled a National Criminal Investigative Service report on Johnson, despite her having urged him to several times. The judge told Adams to submit the NCIS report and in March rejected Johnson’s request for a bond reduction, saying he was a danger to himself and others.

Nancy Tucker filed a complaint with the Kentucky Bar Association against Adams, saying he should recuse himself as prosecutor. The KBA declined to investigate, saying the complaint had not stated an ethical violation. But Adams did ask to be taken off the case while also telling the attorney general that a number of allegations in Nancy Tucker’s complaint were false or misleading.  

Contacted by the Lantern, Adams said his policy is to “decline to talk about cases. … I respectfully have no comment.” 

The attorney general appointed Richie Kemp, a former Graves County prosecutor now part of the AG’s special prosecution team, and Rosa Ramsey Dallam, a former assistant commonwealth’s attorney in Christian County recently named head of special prosecutions, to take over the case. 

After mediation, they obtained a guilty plea from Johnson on Oct. 24, 2025.

More stonewalling

The case was closed but Nancy Tucker was still waiting on records from the Hopkinsville Police.

She had filed an open records request in August 2024 that was categorically denied the same day.

She filed another request a month later. Hopkinsville police released some records but withheld most of the file. That month the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled  in Shively Police Department v. Courier Journal, Inc. that law enforcement agencies could not issue blanket denials in such cases but had to spell out how the investigation would be harmed by the release of records.

In January 2025, Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman’s office cited the ruling when deciding that Hopkinsville Police had violated the Open Records Act in multiple ways by withholding most of the records requested by Nancy Tucker.

The legislature wasted no time in undoing the Supreme Court ruling by adding language in 2025 that allows police agencies to reject records requests without a detailed explanation of why.

 “It  is a shame that they’ve changed that law. It wasn’t a particularly onerous burden on law enforcement before,” said Rick Adams, who represented Nancy Tucker pro bono in her open records case.

“It’s not good for government transparency, for the media, not good for citizens, for victims of crimes trying to get information about their cases. It is true that they have to release the records after the investigation is over, but oftentimes that’s too late. It’s no longer news. … It was an unfortunate change to the law that we all tried to fight against, but did not have the sway down there in Frankfort.” 

Rick Adams said law enforcement is likely to take its work more seriously “if they know the public is paying attention.” Also, “even under the new law as soon as he pled guilty and the case closed, she should have gotten everything.”

Even with the AG’s opinion, Hopkinsville police were slow to turn over the records. A letter from Adams and his colleague Evan Nixon, dated Oct. 21, 2025, prodding the department says it had produced only 141 pages of its more than 900 pages of responsive public records.

As the police continued to release records, Nancy was shocked at what she was learning. “When I received my open records request and saw the open Jack Daniel liquor bottle, I was devastated. No one from HPD nor the prosecutor ever mentioned that alcohol may have been involved that night of the collision.” She had known that police had reported smelling marijuana thanks to local news reports.

With each new discovery, “It’s like they keep killing him over and over again,” she said. “Trying to grieve and having to fight for justice is nothing any parent should have to deal with.”

‘Unable to say for certain if he was impaired’

The question of why police did not obtain a search warrant to test Johnson for drugs and alcohol had been lighting up social media ever since the first special prosecutor explained to the Tucker family that the lack of testing limited the charges he could seek. The family wanted Johnson to be charged with vehicular homicide. 

Nancy Tucker’s niece, Alethea West, a former Hopkinsville City Council member and Democrat who lost a race for mayor in 2022, pressed for answers, drawing a rebuke from Police Chief Jason Newby during one of his Facebook Live sessions.

Police did obtain Johnson’s medical records from Vanderbilt but “the laboratory had never run a toxicology screen on Johnson’s blood,” according to an undated police document. “We are unable to say for certain if he was impaired, and at what level, at the time of the collision.” 

In January 2026, Nancy received a report by Officer David Chmura dated May 6, 2025 — 16 months after the collision — labeled: ***ADDITIONAL SUPPLEMENT REGARDING AN INQUIRY AS TO WHY BLOOD WAS NOT DRAWN FROM UNIT 1 DRIVER**

The report says, “Blood from the driver of Unit 1 was not drawn due to him being incapable of consent as a result of severity of the collision. The Unit 1 driver was extricated from the vehicle and immediately evacuated by life-flight on scene for advanced trauma care.”

This was the first suggestion that Johnson was “extricated” from the vehicle, and surprising since police photos show no damage to the driver’s side door. Other police records report that Johnson was talking to officers after the collision, including telling them to call his grandfather. Moreover, the Kentucky Supreme Court has ruled that when a suspect is unconscious a warrantless blood draw is constitutional if police have reason to believe alcohol was involved.

Leamy, the Christian County commonwealth’s attorney, said even if police had gone to a Tennessee judge for a search warrant, the testing couldn’t have been done in time to be useful as evidence.

Sholar was made the investigating officer after the collision and was not at the scene. “So basically, I don’t know if they were just going to rely on, hey, we’ll subpoena the medical records,” assuming those records would include information about drug and alcohol levels. The failure to get a toxicology report sparked discussion among officers about how to respond to fatal collisions, he said. “Because after that, they had changed it to where in any situation like that an investigator would come out. And just not necessarily run it, but do their part of it. … Everybody came to an agreement — hey, anytime there’s a situation like this, we at least want to notify an investigator.”

Any changes that might have come from those discussions have not been put into writing. In response to an open records request, the Hopkinsville Police Department last week said it does not have a policy or protocol related to obtaining search warrants for hospitals in Tennessee or other states.

Nancy Tucker says she wonders what Johnson’s medical records from Vanderbilt would show about the presence of drugs or alcohol, but those records are protected by federal privacy laws and not subject to state open records law.

Hoping for change

One thing she does not have to wonder about is whether her son will be remembered. Hopkinsville Community College created an award in his memory in 2024. The winner of the Adrian Tucker MVP Award is chosen annually by graduates of the advanced manufacturing technology program from which Adrian Tucker graduated in 2019.

In announcing the award, the college’s chapter of the Federation of Advanced Manufacturing Education praised Adrian Tucker as a “stand-out student who exhibited great leadership and focus on his goals.” 

Nancy Tucker is grateful for the guidance and support she got from MADD, which assigned her a victim’s advocate, and the National Organization of Parents of Murdered Children, based in Cincinnati. She was befriended by Sheila Albers, who became a self-described “open records warrior” after having to fight for records of her 17-year-old son’s fatal shooting by police in Overland Park, Kansas. 

She’s also grateful to a few local officials who offered information and encouragement.

Amye Bensenhaver of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition connected Tucker with Rick Adams and Evan Nixon, the lawyers in Louisville who helped her get the records. But they credit Nancy Tucker with doing the heavy lifting.

“It took some letters on legal letterhead and a couple calls from Evan to the chief and to the clerk to shake some additional stuff loose. But the dogged pursuit here of information was driven by her,” Rick Adams said.

In the end, the decision about paroling Johnson could rest with the state Supreme Court which has been asked to decide if a 2024 law requiring violent offenders to serve 85% of their sentences can be applied to prisoners, like Johnson, who committed their crimes before the law was enacted.

Looking beyond the parole hearing, Nancy Tucker is pinning her hopes for the future on upcoming changes at city hall. Chief Newby has resigned, effective Oct. 11, and Hopkinsville will elect a new mayor in November.

“Definitely need some change,” she says. “Definitely need some transparency. Definitely need some accountability. Not just for the perpetrators, but also for those that’s protecting the perpetrators.”