Jurors will be seated this week for a man charged in connection with a deadly 2024 crash that occurred on Lovers Lane.

Ryan Bagwell, 32, of White House, Tennessee, will face a jury trial beginning Tuesday in Warren Circuit Court on charges of murder, operating a motor vehicle while under the influence (fourth offense or greater) and first-degree criminal mischief.

Bagwell is said to have been the driver of a vehicle involved in a two-vehicle head-on crash in the 300 block of Lovers Lane on the morning of July 24, 2024, leading to the death of Ashley C. Porter, 40, of Bowling Green, the driver of the other vehicle.

Warren Circuit Judge John Grise considered arguments related to a number of motions filed ahead of the scheduled trial, ruling this past Tuesday that multiple counts against Bagwell charging him with trafficking in a controlled substance will be severed from the murder case and will not be considered by that jury.

Bagwell’s attorney, Alan Simpson had requested that the drug trafficking charges be severed, arguing that evidence related to those allegations did not have any bearing on whether Bagwell was guilty of murder or DUI and would be prejudicial against Bagwell if a jury heard that evidence along with the evidence gathered in the murder case.

Grise also heard arguments from Simpson and Warren County Commonwealth’s Attorney Kori Beck Bumgarner regarding whether a charge of tampering with physical evidence against Bagwell would also be considered by the jury at trial this week.

Bumgarner argued that video footage from Warren County Regional Jail purporting to show Bagwell attempt to eat a bag of illicit drugs in his position provides the basis for the evidence tampering charge and demonstrates Bagwell’s awareness that the drugs in question could be used against him in a criminal proceeding.

Simpson countered that the evidence tampering allegation is based on circumstances that are not tied to the murder investigation and should not be heard by the jury considering the murder count.

Grise had not ruled on that matter as of Thursday afternoon.

Bumgarner said during Thursday’s hearing that a blood sample taken from Bagwell a few hours after the crash showed the presence of five different drugs in his system, including amphetamine, methamphetamine and THC, adding that this was the evidence that forms the basis for the allegation that Bagwell was impaired at the time of the crash.

Porter was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.

According to court records, a Bowling Green Police Department officer who responded to the scene claimed in an arrest citation that Bagwell appeared to have “red, glossy eyes.”

During a pat-down search, police recovered a pipe with marijuana in it and a small pill before Ballard was taken to The Medical Center for treatment, and he gave a statement to the detectives while at the hospital.

BGPD Detective Matthew Poore wrote in an arrest citation that Bagwell showed “clear signs of intoxication” and was unable to account for some of his actions during his drive from Tennessee to Bowling Green the morning of the crash.