Brad Brinkley, a southern Indiana man, faces charges including reckless homicide after Louisville police alleged that he drove over a person sleeping in a cardboard box at Bethany Cemetery and left without reporting the incident. He is also charged with leaving the scene of an accident, failure to report a traffic accident and tampering with physical evidence in connection with the death.
According to WLKY, the Louisville Metro Police Department said an officer was flagged down by employees in front of Bethany Cemetery, who reported a dead person in the back of the grounds. Officers arrived and found a person dead inside a cardboard box in a section of the cemetery where vehicular traffic was uncommon, according to the outlet's report.
Investigators believe the victim had been sleeping in the box when Brinkley's vehicle struck it, killing the person. Court records reported that tire marks were present on the cardboard box itself, according to the same report.
Investigators' Account of the Incident
According to the WLKY account, Brinkley told police that he drove over the cardboard box, felt a bump and did not stop. He said he drove over the area again and saw a person's hand coming from the box during that second pass. Police said he then left the cemetery after the victim was discovered rather than remaining at the scene.
Another witness told police that Brinkley acted unusually at the cemetery, staying inside his vehicle with his head down, according to the report. That behavior reportedly drew attention from those nearby before officers were called to the scene.
A Coworker's Role and a Second Arrest
Thomas Litsey, who according to the report assists with removing tarps after funerals at the cemetery, told police that it was Brinkley who ultimately notified police about the victim. But detectives believed Litsey may have initially concealed Brinkley's involvement in the incident, the outlet reported. Litsey was arrested and charged with tampering with physical evidence as a result.
Bethany Cemetery sits in the Valley Station area of Louisville, Kentucky, according to the report. Brinkley is scheduled to be arraigned Friday morning, per the same account.
An Earlier Death Investigation Near the Same Cemetery
The case echoes an earlier death investigation from the same area. In February 2023, Louisville Metro Police opened a death investigation after a body was found near Bethany Cemetery in Valley Station, according to lpm.org. That report said cemetery maintenance workers called police after discovering the body near the 10000 block of Dixie Highway, and that officers had not determined the person's identity at that time. It is not established whether that 2023 case is connected to the incident now charged against Brinkley.
A Kentucky State Police post from May 2026 said a man named Elijah Cook had been arrested and charged with second-degree manslaughter, leaving the scene of an accident, and failure to maintain insurance in a separate case.
What Louisville's homelessness data shows
According to Louisville Metro Government's 2023 Annual Action Plan, a Jan. 23, 2023, Point-in-Time Count found 1,604 unduplicated people experiencing homelessness in the Louisville Metro Continuum of Care. The count included 580 people who were unsheltered, while 757 stayed in emergency shelters and 267 stayed in transitional shelters. Louisville Metro Government says its Emergency Solutions Grant program supports emergency shelter, street outreach, rapid rehousing and relocation for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, according to its 2024 Annual Action Plan. The available homelessness data does not establish the cemetery victim's housing status or document whether Louisville publishes a separate count of deaths among people experiencing homelessness.
