EL PASO, TX — A man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter in a head-on collision in western Texas that killedLaura Lynch, a founding member of a country music band now known asThe Chicks, prosecutors said.
As part of a plea agreement, Domenick Chavez, 33, admitted that he was driving recklessly and caused the head-on crash that killed Lynch on Dec. 22, 2023, the El Paso District Attorney's Office said in a news release on Tuesday, Feb. 24. Lynch, 65, was killed instantly after Chavez attempted to pass four vehicles and collided into Lynch's truck.
The incident occurred on an undivided highway in Hudspeth County, about 50 miles east of El Paso. The El Paso District Attorney's Office also covers neighboring Hudspeth and Culberson counties.
"The death of Ms. Lynch caused profound sadness for her family, the Dell City community, and all those who appreciated her music. It is a loss made more acute by the fact that it happened just days before Christmas,"El Paso District Attorney James Montoyasaid in a statement. "Our office will continue to hold accountable those defendants who choose to drive in an extremely dangerous manner."
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Laura Lynch killed in West Texas crash
Lynch was driving a 2016 Ford F-150 eastbound when she was hit head-on by a 2022 Dodge Ram 1500 that was attempting to pass four vehicles at the same time, theTexas Department of Public Safetyand the district attorney's office said. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
The fatal crash occurred at around 5:45 p.m. local time on a cloudy day, but dry road, according to authorities. The other truck caught fire, and Chavez was also injured and hospitalized.
Though alcohol was not a factor in the crash, accident-reconstruction investigators determined that Chavez was driving 106 to 114 mph at the time of the wreck, the district attorney's office said. He was also driving on a suspended license, which had been revoked for failing to comply with DWI-related penalties stemming from convictions in 2014 and 2017 in El Paso County, the district attorney's office added.
Chavez "has expressed profound remorse for the loss of life and for the pain this has caused, and he accepted responsibility by pleading guilty," his attorney Manuel Parra said in a statement, explaining that Chavez decided to plead because he faced a possible punishment of five to 99 years in prison at trial.
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Lynch was a founding member of 'The Dixie Chicks'
Lynch was a graduate of Coronado High School in El Paso and a strong advocate for her hometown of Dell City, a small community in Hudspeth County, theEl Paso Times, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported.
She divided her time between Fort Worth and Dell City, where she kept busy maintaining rental properties and advocating for her hometown. Her parents had deep roots in agriculture and water development in the town.
Lynch was one of four founding members of the Dixie Chicks band, formed in 1989 with sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer (who used their family name, Erwin), and Robin Lynn Macy.
Lynch played the upright bass and later became the lead singer. They recorded three albums — "Thank Heavens for Dale Evans" in 1990, "Little Ol' Cowgirl" in 1992, and "Shouldn't a Told You That" in 1993.
She left the Dixie Chicks in 1995 and was replaced by Natalie Maines, as the band veered from bluegrass to mainstream country. Lynch departed long before Mainesopenly criticizedthen-President George W. Bush in 2003, sparking a backlash and country radio boycotts.
The band changed its name to The Chicks in 2020, in the wake of George Floyd's killing and a subsequent racial reckoning. They removed "Dixie" from their name because of its connotation with the Confederate-era South during the national racial awareness movement.
Following Lynch's death, The Chicks said in asocial media postthat she was a "bright light" and called her "instrumental" in the band's early success.
"We are shocked and saddened to learn of the passing of Laura Lynch, a founding member of The Chicks. We hold a special place in our hearts for the time we spent playing music, laughing and traveling together," the band wrote. "Her infectious energy and humor gave a spark to the early days of our band. Laura had a gift for design, a love of all things Texas and was instrumental in the early success of the band."
Contributing: Gary Levin and Thao Nguyen, USA TODAY; Aaron Martinez, El Paso Times
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times:Man sentenced in crash that killed Dixie Chicks founder Laura Lynch
