SEVIERVILLE, Tenn — Rocky Robinson's life changed in an instant.
On the night of May 21, 2024, the 18-year-old was driving home from work on Veterans Boulevard in Pigeon Forge when a driver in a Genesis collided head-on with his Cadillac.
Julie A. Huskey, previously known as Julie Ogle, was driving the Genesis. According to a Pigeon Forge Police Department report, that night she had crossed three lanes of traffic and she was slurring her words.
Robinson described for 10News seeing firefighters and EMTs run back and forth. The young Cocke County man remembers trying to scream but having no air come out.
"I was screaming for help, but I had the wind knocked out of me and, like, it was just going black," Robinson said, "like the whole dash was on top of my leg and I just couldn't move."
Today, Robinson must use crutches to get around, he said.
Huskey at the time of the crash had a lengthy arrest record that included substance-related offenses.
Now, more than two months later, Sevier County grand jurors have indicted Huskey on counts of reckless endangerment, vehicular assault, DUI 3rd offense and improper lane change in connection with the crash.
The indictment was returned July 29, records show. Huskey was booked into jail the next day.
Huskey was being held Monday in the Sevier County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bond. She is due Aug. 13 in court, according to the Sevier County Circuit Court Clerk's Office.
The night of the crash the Pigeon Forge officer reported that Huskey was slurring her words. The officer saw a bottle of Tito's vodka that was 3/4ths empty in her vehicle, according to records.
Mark Nichols is Robinson's grandfather. He raised the young man. The crash concerns him, he said.
"My only prayer every night until we finally found out that they had eventually arrested this lady was that, God, please don't let her kill somebody tonight," Nichols said. “When she chose to do what she did that night, she threw a grenade in not only my grandson’s life, but my life and my wife’s life. We weren’t ready for this … we didn’t see this coming.”
Rocky Robinson and his family are still trying to recover.
His grandfather had to put up a ramp for his wheelchair so that Rocky would be able to get around when he came home from the hospital.
"He broke his left tibia, he broke his left wrist, lacerated his liver, bruised his lungs, he had a concussion," Nichols said.
Nichols now works as an Uber driver to pay for medical bills and has set up a GoFundMe account for people who want to help.
The crash has affected the family.
"About two days after the incident, (Huskey's) daughter sent me a message and she told me, 'I'm sorry to hear about your grandson But I just wanted to let you know that it was my mother, that it was the one that was in the car that hit him'"," said Teresa Nichols, who helped raise Rocky as well. "She said that her mother has never had to pay the consequence for any of her actions and that she hasn't spoken to her mother in three years because of her drinking problem."
Before her arrest and indictment, WBIR tried to reach Huskey for comment. 10News also reached out to the Sevier County District Attorney General's Office seeking comment but hasn't heard back.
Huskey's arrest record in Sevier County dates back more than a decade and involves multiple law enforcement agencies, documents show. Police charged her twice this year for DUI, including in the May incident with Robinson.
Prior DUIs include a DUI 2nd offense entered into the court record in February 2017, records show.
Rocky Robinson said he has physical therapy three times a week. His life is now shadowed with one fear: "That I won't be able to walk normal again," he said.