How a nightmare started one ASU Law alum’s journey in law

In 2017, 19-year-old Hayley Worrell sought help during a medical emergency and unknowingly stepped into a situation that would change the trajectory of her life.

What began as a health concern quickly became a nightmare of accusations, Worrell said, and is still affecting her family to this day.

Authorities accused a family member of wrongdoing after doctors found unexplained injuries on another. Worrell said the person, overwhelmed and terrified, confessed under pressure during a police interrogation. They were separated from her for hours and threatened with prison. 

But even at that time, Worell was certain of their innocence.

Years later, medical tests revealed a condition that could have explained the injuries, something Worrell said was never tested or considered during the investigation.

“I knew something was wrong,” she said. “They just assumed guilt.”

When the state stepped in, Worrell remembers the judge emphasizing how different the standards were in dependency court.

“This isn’t criminal court. We don’t have to prove anything,” Worrell recalled the judge saying.

Ultimately, Worrell was thrown into a legal system she neither understood nor was prepared for.

“It was a very corrupt system and we didn't know how to navigate it, with being how young we were,” she said.

But instead of making this her breaking point, Worrell got focused. She enrolled in college, earned her bachelor’s degree and decided she was going to law school.

She was accepted into the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University, where she faced a whole new set of challenges that come with law school. She balanced coursework with parenting, traveling nearly 100 miles each way to school and back and carrying the mental weight of her family’s legal struggles.

Worrell graduated with her JD in May, and now, she’s preparing for her bar exam. But she’s just getting started.

Once she becomes a licensed attorney, Worrell plans to revisit the case that upended her life.

She also plans to pursue a career in criminal law while actively advocating for legislative reforms in the family court system.

Written by Crystal Jimenez