On the Beat in the Bluegrass

The man accused in the hit-and-run death of an 18-year-old University of Kentucky student told investigators he never intended to kill anyone nor cover-up any evidence.

Connie Blount

Shannon Houser

Shannon Houser, 37, is accused of fleeing the scene and then trying to conceal the evidence after striking Connie Blount with his pickup in the early morning of April 13. Blount, who investigators have said crossed Broadway against the light, had kneeled down in the street before she got struck, according to testimony.

Houser was indicted on charges of fleeing the scene, tampering with physical evidence and marijuana possession. He has said he doesn’t think he did it, and “I don’t know how I could get a fair shake.”

A jury trial continued Thursday in Fayette Circuit Court.

On Thursday morning, prosecutors morning played a recording that a police detective made while interviewing Houser in the weeks after Blount’s death.

Houser told Detective Matt Brotherton that he was headed from his home to his auto shop. He said he saw a young man “wobbling” at the corner of Broadway and Maxwell. He was concerned that the man, Ryan Gish, might step into the street, so he had his eyes on on him as he drove down the road.

That’s when he heard a “thump” and kept driving.

“Honestly, I was trying to avoid something like this,” he said on the recording.

When he arrived at his shop, he saw a dent in his fender, but he was still unaware he had struck a person.

“I didn’t understand I was leaving the scene” of an accident, he said.

Houser also told the detective that he removed his truck’s grill not because he was trying to conceal evidence, but because he had accidentally run into a jack in his garage and damaged the vehicle’s condenser.

“I didn’t do anything to hide anything,” he said.

A forensic scientist also testified Thursday morning that Blount’s sweater fibers were found on the truck’s grill.

Testimony will continue in the afternoon and could wrap up Thursday.

Reach Steve Lannen at (859) 231-1328 or 1-800-950-6397, Ext. 1328.