Talladega murder trial update

Kenneth Rex Latham

The state rested its case Tuesday, and the defendant took the stand during the murder trial of 66 year old Kenneth Rex Latham,  who is charged with two counts each of murder and manslaughter.

The charges stem from a car crash in Winterboro. Latham hit a second vehicle head on after swerving and driving erratically down Alabama 21 on the night of March 1, 2013.

28 year old Filemon Reyes Santiago,  and  23 year old Areli Jacinto,  were killed instantly, and the four young children riding with them were all injured. Jacinto was seven months pregnant with a baby boy when she was killed, according to medical testimony heard Tuesday.

Latham was also injured in the accident. There was no alcohol in his system at the time, but his blood tested positive for hydrocodone and methadone.

Defense attorney Jon Adams is arguing that the levels of both medications are well within the therapeutic range, however, and were likely not related to the accident.

Most of the testimony Tuesday came from people in one of two cars who were present for the collision.

Latham took the stand Tuesday, explaining that he had served two 13-month tours of duty in Vietnam until he was wounded by shrapnel bomb in 1970.

He is 100 percent disabled and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and bradycardia, a condition characterized by an unusually slow heartbeat. He also has hypertension.

He takes up to 17 different pills at a time, all of which are prescribed and provided by the Veterans Administration. He began taking methadone after complaining to his VA psychiatrist that the morphine he had prescribed made him lethargic.

The hydrocodone, which is for pain management, is only taken as needed, he said.

As for the night of the accident, Latham said he was going to Sylacauga to help his daughter buy a house. He said he left his home in Lincoln between 8:30 and 9 and remembered stopping to buy the wine at a mini-mart nearby.

The receipt was also recovered in the car and showed that the wine was purchased at 10:42 p.m. The accident took place around 11:30.

Although he testified that his various medications have never interfered with his ability to drive before, he had no memory of the events leading up to the accident.

The state will cross examine Latham today . The jury is expected to begin deliberating sometime today.