A man charged with killing a pedestrian at the end of a police chase more than a year ago in Little Rock spoke in court Thursday, days before the start of his trial.
Jordan Vandenberghe, 25, was arrested after the chase in September 2015, which resulted in the death of pedestrian Trendia Horton, 39, who was jogging with her daughter.
He faces charges of first-degree murder, first-degree battery, fleeing, theft of property, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Vandenberghe testified before Judge Leon Johnson in Pulaski County Circuit Court that he could recall being in a police vehicle after a chase, receiving treatment at a hospital and being booked into jail.
The pursuit began when Vandenberghe sped through a residential area of Little Rock in a stolen Nissan Maxima and ended in him losing control of the vehicle and crashing in the 10000 block of Chicot Road, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette previously reported.
"Next thing I knew I was in a cop car," he told the court.
Vandenberghe testified that the rest of that day, including interviews with authorities and particular details of the crash, is a blur.
Before his testimony, three people investigating the case with the Little Rock Police Department explained their interactions with Vandenberghe.
Lead detective Kevin Simpson outlined how he had questioned Vandenberghe in his initial interview with the murder suspect.
That conversation, in which another detective was present, included Vandenberghe initially saying he’d gotten the stolen vehicle from his friend “Victor,” before admitting to stealing the car outside a gas station.
An audio recording of that interview, which was just over 10 minutes in length, was played in court Thursday.
At one point, Vandenberghe told investigators, "Man, I remember hitting something." He added that he could not remember what it was.
Also testifying during the hearing was Officer Darius Counts with the police department, who said he'd had a five-minute conversation with Vandenberghe after he was taken to Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock.
By the end of the Thursday's hearing, Johnson barred those statements from trial, citing that Vandenberghe had not been read his Miranda rights at the time.
Vandenberghe's statements to Simpson and the other detective present, Brad Silas, were deemed admissible in court.
The first-degree murder trial is set to begin Tuesday. Jury selection will start once the defense and prosecution agree to hundreds of images in photographic evidence related to the investigation.
Read Friday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
