Joseph Traylor must serve most of a 20-year sentence after pleading guilty to vehicular homicide and other charges.
PRINCETON, Ky. — A Kentucky father has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after his 15-month-old son died in a motorcycle crash that police said occurred while the child was strapped to his chest and the father attempted a wheelie.
Joseph Traylor was sentenced Oct. 2 in Caldwell Circuit Court in connection with the July 5, 2024, death of his son, Terry Desmond Traylor. Traylor pleaded guilty in July to an amended charge of vehicular homicide while under the influence of drugs or substances. He also pleaded guilty to reckless driving and operating a motor vehicle under the influence under aggravating circumstances. He had initially faced a murder charge.
The case began with an evening crash in the 300 block of Beverly Lane in Princeton. Princeton police said their investigation found that Traylor was traveling the wrong way on a one-way street while operating a motorcycle with Terry secured against his chest. Police said Traylor attempted a wheelie, lost control of the motorcycle and struck a telephone pole.
Police initially reported the crash at about 6:45 p.m. Both Traylor and his son were taken by ambulance to Caldwell Medical Center. Terry was pronounced dead at the hospital. Traylor was later flown to Skyline Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, for treatment. Authorities arrested him on a warrant after he was released from the hospital.
The criminal case developed over the following months. In September 2024, a Caldwell County grand jury indicted Traylor on charges of murder, reckless driving and driving under the influence. He entered a not-guilty plea during an October 2024 arraignment before Circuit Judge Jamus Redd. During that hearing, the judge granted a prosecution request involving the transfer of blood samples after Traylor’s public defender raised no objection.
The case did not ultimately go to trial on the original murder charge. Traylor later reached a plea agreement and pleaded guilty in July 2026 to vehicular homicide while under the influence of drugs or substances and the two related driving offenses. The amended plea cleared the way for the sentencing hearing held more than two years after the crash.
At sentencing, Traylor’s attorney, Marc Wells, acknowledged that probation was not available because of the offense and asked the court to suspend fines tied to the lesser counts. Commonwealth’s Attorney Carrie Ovey-Wiggins asked Redd to follow the plea agreement and impose a 20-year prison term, telling the court that the death of such a young child had deeply affected the family.
Redd said he had reviewed Traylor’s pre-sentence investigation report and determined that neither probation nor shock probation was available. The judge also said Traylor must serve 85% of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole. Redd imposed the 20-year term and placed Traylor in the custody of the Kentucky Department of Corrections. He agreed to suspend fines associated with the two lesser offenses.
When Redd gave Traylor an opportunity to address the court before sentencing, Traylor declined, according to the local courtroom report. The judge described the case as a tragedy and said he hoped the sentence could provide some measure of closure for the people affected by Terry’s death, while acknowledging that the family’s loss could not be undone.
Terry was born March 9, 2023, in Madisonville, Kentucky, according to his obituary from Morgan’s Funeral Home. The obituary remembered the toddler for his smile and listed his mother, Adrianna Lewis, his father and several siblings among his surviving relatives. He was 15 months old when he died.
The Oct. 2 sentencing resolves the principal criminal case stemming from the 2024 crash. Traylor is now serving the 20-year sentence imposed by Caldwell Circuit Court and, under the terms stated by the judge, must serve 85% of that term before becoming eligible for parole.