Intoxication manslaughter case underway in 118th District Court

In early 2020, John Lyons Sr. lost his life on the side of FM 700 when a car driven by an intoxicated local resident crashed into Lyons, his vehicle, and a DPS patrol unit on the side of the road.

The driver, Lindsay Shay Woods of Big Spring, 34 at the time of the wreck, has already pleaded guilty to intoxication manslaughter in the 118th District Court case, presided over by District Judge Timothy Yeats.

“The defendant was driving a vehicle on March 4, 2020, when she collided with two vehicles and a pedestrian that were pulled over on the side of the road of FM 700 just at the base of Scenic Mountain. During the investigation, she was found to be intoxicated on drugs,” said prosecutor Assistant District Attorney Lindsay Wilkerson. “Miss Woods has already pled guilty and has been found guilty and therefore convicted of intoxication manslaughter. The purpose of what we're doing here today is for the jury to hear evidence to where they can make a decision as to punishment in this case.”

According to Wilkerson, although

Woods entered a plea of “guilty” to the charge, the prosecution and defense disagreed on punishment in the case. Woods' lawyer, Trey Keith of Sweetwater, is asking for probation, while Wilkerson is set on a prison sentence. Wilkerson said cases requiring jury trials for just the sentencing phase of a trial are unusual.

“It's not very common. This is the first time I've ever done it, and I think it's the third time I've seen any of us do it in my eight years,” she said. “So it's not terribly common. Not unheard of, but not common.”

Wilkerson said that a jury was selected for the trial Monday morning, and the trial actually got underway about 2:30 Monday afternoon.

“We had two witnesses today,” she said. “We had the lab technician, a forensic toxicologist who analyzed the contents of the defendant's blood, and also we've heard about half the testimony so far of Trooper Derek Morrow.”

The toxicologist, Dana Baxter, is on staff at the Texas Department of Public Safety's Austin Crime Lab. She testified that a sample of Woods' blood taken shortly after the accident tested positive for Tramadol, an opiate of similar strength as codeine; diphenhydramine, an antihistamine found in over-thecounter medications such as Benadryl and Nytol; and for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine.

Baxter testified that Woods' blood test for Tramadol showed a concentration between 0.1 mg/liter – the lowest amount that indicates a “positive” test, and 10 times as much, or 1.0 mg/liter. While she testified that she couldn't