Former NBA player Mookie Blaylock, using a walker, turned himself in Monday to the Jonesboro Police Department to face charges in a fatal head-on collision.
The question of when and if the former Atlanta Hawk, whose legal first name is Daron, will be released on bond will be answered Tuesday in his first court appearance.
Blaylock, 46, is being charged with second-degree vehicular homicide, driving on a suspended license, failure to maintain lane and crossing a center median in the wreck that killed Monica Murphy, a 40-year-old mother of five.
Blaylock and Murphy’s husband, Frankie, were also injured. Blaylock was placed on life support but eventually recovered after spending more than a week in the Atlanta Medical Center. While Frankie Murphy suffered only a broken ankle, he is left to mourn his wife along with her children.
On Monday, Blaylock was taken to the Clayton County Jail, where he awaits a first appearance before a magistrate judge and a determination of whether he will receive bond, and if so, how much.
“It will likely be high,” Jonesboro Police Chief Franklin Allen said. “It depends on his driving history.”
Last week, Blaylock’s attorney said the accident was caused by a medical emergency.
“He had a blackout and what caused it, whether it be from his NBA career or something else, we’re trying to get to the bottom of it,” Don Samuel, a high-profile attorney, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Allen said that because of the possibility of blackouts, Blaylock shouldn’t have been behind the wheel.
“The one thing that troubles me about this is, if he had a medical condition and knew he had the tendency to black out, he shouldn’t have been driving,” Allen said. “If he knew his license was suspended, he shouldn’t have been driving. This was avoidable.”
If and when Blaylock makes bail, he has a warrant for his arrest in Spalding County, where he lives and failed to appear in court on a March charge of driving under the influence.
