Ex-coach’s trial resumes in death of Ky. high school football player; teen’s father testifies

Dad takes the stand in Ky. player death trial

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The father of a high school football player who died after practice has taken the stand during the trial of the coach charged in connection with the teen’s death.

Jeff Gilpin, the father of 15-year-old Max Gilpin, was called as the first prosecution witness Tuesday morning in Louisville, Ky.

Former Pleasure Ridge Park High School coach David Jason Stinson has pleaded not guilty to reckless homicide and wanton endangerment in connection with Gilpin’s death. The teen collapsed after practice on a hot day in August 2008 and died three days later.

Prosecutors say Stinson ran a brutal practice the day Gilpin collapsed. Stinson’s defense says the practice wasn’t unusually hard.

Stinson’s trial is a rare case of a coach being prosecuted for a player’s heat-related death.