A Franklin man accused of drunkenly slamming his car into a family's SUV at more than 77 miles per hour, killing a 2-year-old boy, pleaded guilty Monday to murder rather than face trial this week. Jorge Lopez Iturbide, 35, admitted in Warren Circuit Court to murder, two counts of first-degree assault, first-degree criminal mischief and operating a motor vehicle while under the influence in connection with the January 2024 crash that killed Jhavarion Peay.
The plea agreement recommends a 35-year prison sentence and requires Iturbide to pay $10,123 in restitution toward the toddler's funeral expenses, according to Bowling Green Daily News. The deal lets Iturbide avoid a trial that had been scheduled to begin Tuesday and spares him the possibility of a life sentence had he been convicted as charged. He is set to return to court on October 12, when Warren Circuit Judge Chris Cohron will formally sentence him.
The crash happened on January 6, 2024, at the intersection of Scottsville Road and Cypress Wood Lane, a stretch of road that put Iturbide's 2010 Toyota Corolla directly behind a 2013 Ford Escape driven by Braxton Peay. Iturbide's vehicle was traveling at 77.1 miles per hour when it crashed into the back of the Escape, according to the same account. Jhavarion Peay, a passenger, died January 8 at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville; his sister, J'cyonna Peay, who was Braxton Peay's daughter, was treated for multiple injuries, and Braxton Peay was also seriously injured.
A Kentucky Transportation Cabinet project document dated Feb. 3, 2014, reported that current average daily traffic volumes on the studied Scottsville Road corridor ranged from 30,000 to 35,000 vehicles.
Blood Alcohol Nearly Three Times the Legal Limit
Police officers who responded to the scene detected the odor of alcohol coming from Iturbide's vehicle, and a subsequent blood test showed his blood alcohol content was 0.26 — more than three times Kentucky's legal limit of 0.08. According to prior court testimony, Iturbide had reported drinking two or three beers before traveling to Bowling Green, though he told police he had no memory of the crash itself.
The Bowling Green Police Department investigated the collision. A Warren County grand jury indicted him in March on charges including murder and assault.
Why Murder, Not Manslaughter
The relevant Kentucky statute is available through Justia Law. In this case, Iturbide faced a murder charge rather than a lesser homicide count.
Iturbide was lodged in the Warren County Regional Jail on a $1 million cash bond. The case included plea negotiations; Commonwealth's Attorney Kori Beck Bumgarner offered a 50-year sentence in exchange for a guilty plea, a history the Daily News detailed at the time.
New Attorney, Delayed Trial, Failed Suppression Bid
Iturbide was represented by private attorney Dennie Hardin, who formally announced his retention in September 2025. The trial was later set for late August. Judge Cohron denied a defense motion to suppress statements to Bowling Green police. Iturbide later accepted a 35-year plea deal rather than proceed to trial.
For broader context, see Kentucky.gov. For the Peay family, the guilty plea offers little comfort. Their case, now headed to sentencing in October, closes out a prosecution that began the night a toddler was killed in a crash involving a driver traveling more than 77 miles per hour with nearly three times the legal alcohol limit in his blood.
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