Accident Victim Breaks Silence About Wreck

By Josh Smith
News Channel 11

NASHVILLE, TN - Mercifully, Courtney Beard remembers very little about what happened on the night of September 24, 2005.

"I could see fire and stuff, but I didn't know what was happening,” Courtney said. “That's the only thing I can remember about when they hit us."

17 year old Courtney Beard, a Piney Flats resident and senior at Unicoi County High School, was waiting for the traffic light to turn green on North Roan Street in Johnson City. It was a Saturday night, and as was often the case, her life-long friend, 17year old Cortney Hensley of Telford, Tennessee, was sitting beside her in the car. The night before, Cortney Hensley was crowned David Crockett High School homecoming queen, and the girls had just picked up the homecoming photos from a Johnson City drug store. One of those photos was the last ever taken of the two friends together.

After an extensive investigation, Johnson City Police said 18 year old Bradley D. Mullins of Gray, Tennessee, was drag racing on North Roan Street with 38 year old David A. Phillips of Johnson City. Police say Mullins’ car slammed into the back of Beard’s SUV and reportedly knocked it 250 feet down Roan Street. The car then burst into flames. Cortney Hensley died in the wreck. Courtney Beard was rushed to Johnson City Medical Center and then airlifted to Vanderbilt Burn Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

Mullins has been indicted on one charge of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder. Phillips is charged with felony reckless endangerment, and his case will be reviewed by a Washington County, Tennessee grand jury.

For weeks, Beard lingered near death with severe burns and multiple internal injuries including singed lungs filled with melted plastic from the interior of the car. Doctors gave her family little hope for survival, and said even if she survived, Courtney might need a face transplant because of the extensive burns. Eight surgeries prevented the amputation of badly damaged left hand fingers and the need for the face transplant. Healthy skin from her from all over her body was grafted onto her burns, and her left ear was reconstructed.

Last week, News Channel 11 contacted the Beard family through her employer asking for an interview when the family was ready. Kathy Beard responded to the request by saying that her daughter was anxious to be interviewed right away because she wanted thank her many supporters and because she wanted people to see her injuries and know the ramifications of recklessness on the road.

Courtney says she wants to talk to the men police say caused the crash. “What were you thinking going that fast on Roan Street, one of the busiest streets in Johnson City,” Courtney said from her hospital bed at the Nashville rehabilitation hospital where she’s now recovering. “You'd think a 38 year old man would have enough sense not to be doing something with an 18 year old boy. I'm almost 18, and I know better than that."

"I would actually like to talk to them and tell them how I feel,” Courtney said. “I'd really enjoy that a lot - to see what they have to say to me. I would like for them to go through what I've had to, to deal with this and all the surgeries and be in the hospital five hours away from your family and friends and not know what's going to happen and lose a friend and miss my senior year and all of that. They didn't have to go through all of this," Courtney said.

Kathy Beard, Courtney’s mother who hasn’t left her daughter’s side since her transfer to Nashville, says she hopes her daughter will be able to continue her rehabilitation at a Tri-Cities hospital and graduate with her senior class next spring. But she says, after Courtney’s healing, her next priority is attaining justice for her daughter and for the family of Cortney Hensley. “This is just a senseless act of two people having a good time on the highway thinking about no one but themselves," Kathy Beard said. “Why do you give an 18 year old a car with a turbo engine in it that you can drive that fast? And why is a man who's 38 years old out that time of night racing with a teenager. I have so many questions,” Beard said.

jsmith@wjhl.com (423) 434-4502

A fund has been established to help pay for Courtney Beard's medical expenses.

Send your gift to :
Peoples Community Bank
300 Sunset Drive
Johnson City, TN 37604
423-915-2200

Make checks payable to Peoples Community Bank. You must write the name "Courtney Beard" on the memo line.