WINCHESTER, Ky. (LEX 18) — The case against 28-year-old Nathon Miller will head to a grand jury.
Miller is accused of driving drunk with his girlfriend's child, 2-year-old Thomas Reed, in the back seat.
He crashed, and both sustained major injuries. Thomas later died at the hospital.
Both of Thomas' parents were in court Wednesday.
They sat on opposite sides of the courtroom as they heard the gruesome details of their son's final moments for the first time.
Miller sported scars and bruises from that June crash as a judge determined there was enough evidence for the case to head to a grand jury.
Officer testimony revealed what happened after they arrived at Miller's car on June 13 and found Thomas in the back seat.
"The car seat was facing upside down with the child facing the floorboard of the car," the officer explained on the stand.
Thomas' family was in tears hearing details from the moments before Thomas took his final breaths.
"Where the child was, there was like, vomit where he threw up and blood," said the officer.
"We already heard some of what has happened, but hearing it again just brought back the numbness again," said Thomas' grandmother Cynthia Reed.
Thomas' official cause of death is blunt force trauma as a result of the car crash.
Miller's blood test revealed a blood alcohol level of .19.
He also only had a learner's permit at the time he was driving.
Thomas' mom insisted Miller wasn't drinking when the two left the house that night.
And she's still in shock that it was the last time she saw her youngest child alive.
"That was the last memory of my boy... him holding a cheeseburger just wanting to go for a ride," said Kayla Richardson.
Miller's charges include murder and driving under the influence.
Wednesday in court, Miller's lawyer requested his murder charge be reduced, citing a new statute.
The judge said that decision would be up to a grand jury.
