A Nashville woman has died after a high-speed crash on Ashland City Highway involving a car driven by her husband, a man who nearly a decade earlier pleaded guilty in a separate fatal DUI wreck. Now Davidson County's top prosecutor has recused himself from the case, leaving the investigation into Emily C. Dollarhide's death to await a new prosecutor.
Emily Dollarhide, 35, was riding in the front seat of a 2025 Ford Mustang driven by her husband, Carl Dollarhide, when the car struck a Dodge Ram pickup truck making a U-turn in the 4700 block of Ashland City Highway on Sept. 19, according to WSMV. Police said the Mustang was traveling at a high rate of speed just before the crash. Emily Dollarhide was initially reported seriously injured, but Fox17 later confirmed she died from her injuries.
As reported by NewsChannel 5, Emily Dollarhide was not wearing a seatbelt and later died at the hospital, while her husband, who was wearing his seatbelt, was not injured. The preliminary investigation showed no signs that either driver was impaired, the outlet reported. The crash remains under investigation, and the case was still awaiting a new prosecutor as of late October.
A Decade-Old Conviction Resurfaces
Carl Dollarhide's name was not new to Nashville's court system. He pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter charges after a deadly DUI crash in 2015, the same outlet's reporting notes, a wreck that left a mother dead and paralyzed her young daughter. He was sentenced to three years in prison and eight years of probation, and was ordered not to drive during his probation.
That earlier case, detailed in News Channel 5's investigation into the Dollarhide case, involved a 2015 crash in which Dollarhide crossed the yellow line and hit another driver's car head-on while he was drunk and speeding. That driver, 29 years old at the time, was killed, and her young daughter, then 10 months old, was left paralyzed. The girl, now 12, is being raised by her grandmother and has said she considers herself a survivor, not a victim, loves singing and often performs on stage, according to the same investigation.
The DA's Office Steps Aside
Davidson County District Attorney General Glenn Funk has recused himself from prosecuting the latest Dollarhide crash case, per the News Channel 5 investigation. Funk's office said it has recused itself from the case and will not comment on the current matter or on Dollarhide's prior criminal history, the report states. The dossier evidence does not establish the specific reason behind the recusal.
Funk approved the three-year plea deal that resolved Dollarhide's 2015 case, according to the same investigation, after prominent letter writers urged leniency and asked for a minimum amount of incarceration. Dollarhide served his three-year sentence in the Metro jail before beginning probation, during which he was barred from driving for eight years. The current crash involving his wife occurred while he was behind the wheel of the Mustang.
Family Scrutiny and a Civil Lawsuit
Emily Dollarhide's parents are suing both Carl Dollarhide and Carl Dollarhide III over her death, according to the investigation, with the lawsuit alleging that Carl Dollarhide III — Carl Dollarhide's father and a retired high-ranking Metro police officer — was negligent for buying his son the Ford Mustang. The elder Dollarhide was reportedly at the scene of the latest crash for hours.
Police have not publicly tied the earlier case's driving prohibition to the current crash, and the investigation into the Sept. 19 wreck continues. The matter was expected to be reviewed by the District Attorney's Office once that investigation concludes, per WSMV's reporting, though it now awaits an assigned prosecutor following Funk's recusal.
