Evidence Used To Convict Max Townsend Publicly Released

Evidence that brought a Cleveland County courtroom to tears has been shared now that the trial of a man convicted of driving into a group of high school runners has wrapped up.

Max Townsend was convicted of 10 counts including three second-degree murder charges. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Prosecutors released the video they used to convince a jury. 

Townsend was found guilty of killing three Moore high school cross country runners, Rachel Freeman, Yuridia Martinez, and Kolby Crum. Townsend was also convicted of injuring four of their teammates when he ran them over with his truck in February of last year.

On February 3, 2020, Moore police officers said you could hear the trembles in dispatchers' voices as they sent all available units to the high school on a reported auto pedestrian accident.

But on the stand, officers said they knew that this wasn't a run of the mill accident, this was a major event.

In dashcam video shared by prosecutors you can see the first officer to drive up on the scene, Officer David Grant.

"Yeah, we need to shut everything down and get whatever we have," Grant said. "We have people everywhere."

Grant knew that backup was close behind him so, he kept going. Even though it was difficult to drive through the destruction Townsend left behind.

As Grant kept on, he eventually ran into Townsend who was standing outside, next to his Ford F-250.

"Who is the driver of this car?" Grant said, in his body camera footage. Townsend at that time put his hands up and followed Grant's commands to sit down.

After the scene was secure Grant preformed standard field sobriety tests on Townsend. In the single leg standing test Townsend was visibly struggling to stand still without dropping his leg for balance. When that happened Townsend asked Grant to "give him a second chance."

Before his standard field sobriety tests and after, Townsend continually blamed what happened on the fact he drank a red bull, choked, and went unconscious.

That is an excuse that the district attorney's office wasn't buying and ultimately the jury didn't either.

Prosecutors also turned over jail calls from when Townsend was in jail leading up to his trial. In the call Townsend found something else to blame besides losing consciousness, the devil.

Related: Jailhouse Call Reveals Townsend Alluded To Satan Taking Over His Body Before Crash Which Killed 3 Teens

When he walked out of court for the last time, News 9’s Erica Rankin asked him if he had any remorse or anything to say, Townsend remained silent.

Townsend was formally sentenced last week.