A Louisville Metro Police Department officer is lacing up her shoes for a good cause.
Maj. Mindy Vance will run the Derby Festival Marathon to raise money for Ava Jones and her family.
“I want to make things comfortable for them,” Vance said. “I want to show them that we care.”
Vance was there the night Michael Hurley hit the Jones family with his car in downtown Louisville in 2022. Trey Jones, 42, died shortly after being hit. His wife, Amy, and daughter, Ava, were seriously hurt and were in town for weeks in rehab in Louisville. Another child was slightly injured. The family, from Kansas, was in Louisville for a basketball tournament Ava was playing in.
“This family has been through so much,” Vance said. “They’ve stayed so positive through it.”
In October 2024, a jury found Hurley guilty of murder, assault and driving under the influence.
Vance has grown close with the Jones family since that tragic night. She dedicated her Urban Bourbon Half Marathon run last year to Trey Jones.
“They truly are an all-American family,” Vance said. “Just good people, good humans.”
They now face a new challenge. In February, Ava Jones was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma. Her mother said the most recent scans showed positive signs. The good news came on Vance’s birthday, April 16.
“It showed that most of the cancer was gone, if not like 99%,” Amy Jones said. “That is just the best news we could ask for.”
However, those medical bills add up. Vance hopes to lighten that burden with a fundraiser through the Louisville Metro Police Foundation.
In 2024, Vance ran the Derby Festival Marathon for LMPD’s 6th Division. She raised $5,000, which went toward meals for officers and new gym equipment.
“… to kind of show the officers that we care,” Vance said. “That’s not something that we get a budget for.”
This year, Vance will split the proceeds from the marathon with the Jones family. For every dollar she raises, half of it will go toward Ava Jones’ medical bills.
“I’m so thankful for everything she’s doing for our family,” Amy Jones said. “Even though we’re not even anywhere close to Kentucky or Louisville, this big group of people reaching out and helping us out is amazing.”
Vance has raised more than $1,600 so far. If you’d like to donate, click here.
“It’s about the act of generosity and the act of showing that this family that you care,” Vance said. “We still care about them. We still love them. We still are rooting for them. The sky’s the limit, obviously, of what I would want for them. But I don’t have a specific fundraising goal.”
The GE Appliances Derby Festival miniMarathon & Marathon is April 26.
