Man Run Over and Killed While Sleeping in Box at Cemetery

A Kentucky man was killed in a bizarre hit-and-run after police say he was lying beneath a large cardboard box inside a Louisville cemetery when a driver ran over it and then left without calling for help.

Carl “Mikey” Michael Kinley, 45, was found dead Tuesday, Sept. 15, at Bethany Cemetery in Louisville’s Valley Station area.

Louisville Metro Police were called around 12:30 p.m. after cemetery workers flagged down an officer and reported finding a man dead toward the back of the property. Officers discovered Kinley beneath a cardboard box large enough to hold a refrigerator, with tire marks running across it.

Police later arrested Brad Brinkley, 40, of Hanover, Indiana, and cemetery groundskeeper Thomas Litsey, 60.

According to an arrest citation obtained by local news outlets, Brinkley told investigators he drove over the cardboard box and felt a bump but did not immediately stop to see what he had hit.

Investigators say Brinkley then drove over the area again. When he got out, he allegedly saw a person’s hand protruding from beneath the box. Despite that discovery, police say he did not call 911 or remain at the scene.

A witness reportedly told investigators Brinkley remained sitting inside his vehicle with his head lowered before eventually leaving. Cemetery workers said Brinkley was familiar with the property and sometimes helped remove tarps following funerals.

Police say the investigation then took another strange turn.

According to investigators, Brinkley told Litsey what had happened. Litsey initially told police that he had discovered the body himself, but authorities allege he later acknowledged that Brinkley had alerted him to it.

Police believe Litsey’s first account was intended to conceal Brinkley’s involvement. He was subsequently arrested on a charge of complicity to tampering with physical evidence.

Brinkley was charged with reckless homicide, leaving the scene of an accident involving death or serious physical injury without rendering aid, tampering with physical evidence and failure to report a traffic accident.

The circumstances surrounding Kinley’s presence beneath the box remain one of the biggest unanswered questions for his family.

His brother, Charles Barbe, told WDRB and WAVE that Kinley had struggled with drugs but was not known to sleep inside cardboard boxes. Barbe said his brother rented a room nearby and was in good standing there.

Police told WAVE that Kinley apparently walked into the cemetery on his own and that investigators believe he was alive beneath the box before he was struck.

Authorities also said Kinley died from blunt-force trauma and showed no evidence of having been shot or stabbed. The investigation initially involved LMPD’s Homicide Unit because of the unusual circumstances, but it was later transferred to the department’s Traffic Unit after investigators determined the death resulted from a vehicle collision.

For Barbe, the arrests have done little to answer what happened during his brother’s final hours.

“I got a million questions,” he told WAVE while remembering Kinley as someone who would give away his last meal if another person needed it.

Kinley’s obituary similarly describes him as a “kind and giving person” who enjoyed working on cars. His family scheduled visitation and a celebration of life for Monday, Sept. 21, in Louisville.

Both suspects appeared in court Friday. A judge set Brinkley’s bond at $250,000 and Litsey’s at $50,000. Local reporting indicates both men are expected back in court later in September.

The case remains under investigation, and the charges are allegations. Neither man’s guilt has been established in court.