Lynlee Pollis

Introduction

Lynlee Pollis is a 27-year-old Dallas woman on trial for intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault in the September 2023 crash that killed 19-year-old Southern Methodist University sophomore Honor Wallace and seriously injured Wallace’s passenger. Her trial became national news on October 2, 2026, when a toxicology chemist testified that blood testing showed Pollis had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.294% hours after the crash — nearly four times Texas’s 0.08% legal driving limit. Her defense concedes she was speeding and ran the red light but disputes that she was drunk, arguing the blood evidence was tainted.

Background Information

The crash happened on the afternoon of September 24, 2023 at the intersection of Monticello Avenue and the North Central Expressway service road in Dallas. Honor Elizabeth Wallace, a sophomore from Grosse Pointe, Michigan who had graduated from University Liggett School as a Merit Scholar, was driving east on Monticello Avenue through a green light when Pollis’ northbound Lexus SUV ran the red light and struck her Volkswagen Jetta, briefly sending it airborne. Wallace was pronounced dead at the scene; her passenger sustained a broken collarbone, and Pollis suffered a fractured ankle. Pollis was booked into the Dallas County Jail on a $100,000 bond following her arrest and posted bail on September 27, 2023, remaining free on bond in the three years before trial.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Charges pending trial. Pollis faces intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault charges for the September 2023 crash that killed Honor Wallace; her trial began September 28, 2026, and no verdict has been reached. She has not been convicted, is presumed innocent, and disputes the intoxication evidence through her defense — while conceding the driving violations that caused the collision.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit reported by FOX 4, Pollis told investigators she was headed home with her husky, named “Tequila,” from Mutts Canine Cantina, a Dallas bar and dog park, and had drunk a single margarita infused with tequila shots; detectives who interviewed her at the hospital observed, per the affidavit, “glassy eyes, slurred speech, and an odor of alcoholic beverage.” Testing performed hours after the crash showed a blood alcohol concentration of 0.294%, toxicology chemist Brittany Welch testified at trial; she told jurors a reading that high would likely require six to eleven standard alcoholic drinks, or three to five larger drinks or doubles. Collision Safety Institute director Rusty Haight testified that Pollis was driving 63 mph and accelerated to 67 mph as she approached the 35-mph zone, and that her direction’s light had been red for five to seven seconds when she struck Wallace.

Her defense attorneys, George Milner and Scott Palmer, claim Pollis’ blood evidence was tainted and have probed witnesses on how it was collected, handled and stored. The defense agreed Pollis was speeding and ran the red light but disputed that she was drunk, and bodycam footage played in court showed Pollis standing without trouble and talking without slurring, while multiple witnesses testified they did not smell alcohol on her.

Public Reaction and Consequences

Jury selection was held September 25–26, 2026, and the felony trial between Pollis and the State of Texas began Monday, September 28, 2026, before Judge Jennifer Balido in Dallas County Criminal District Court. Prosecutor Lauren Black told jurors in opening statements that Pollis’ blood alcohol level was “well over” the legal limit. The intoxication manslaughter charge carries up to 20 years in prison and the intoxication assault charge up to 10. Separately, Wallace’s parents have filed a civil lawsuit in Dallas County seeking $1 million in damages against Pollis and Mutts Canine Cantina, invoking dram-shop liability over the bar’s alcohol service; that case is expected to start in October 2026. Under Texas Penal Code Section 49.08, prosecutors pursuing intoxication manslaughter need not prove recklessness — only legal intoxication and that it caused the fatal crash — which has pushed the trial’s focus onto toxicology and the chain of custody of the blood sample.

Current Status

As of October 2–3, 2026, Pollis’ trial is ongoing in Dallas, with expert testimony on both her intoxication level and the mechanics of the crash expected to continue into the following week; no verdict has been reached. She remains charged with intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault, and the civil suit by Wallace’s parents remains pending. Any ultimate outcome — conviction, acquittal, or hung jury — had not been reported at the time of writing, and this page will stand as written until a verdict is public.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Pollis has spent the three years since the crash free on bond, and the trial now puts her face, her account of a single margarita, and the 0.294% blood-alcohol finding before a national audience. The combined felonies carry a potential 30-year sentence, and the parallel $1 million civil claim adds separate financial exposure. For Wallace’s family, the trial arrived three years after the 19-year-old’s death, with the passenger who broke her collarbone among those the assault count covers.

Sources

New York Post, “Driver accused of killing college student in drunken crash had BAC almost 4 times over limit: report,” Oct. 2, 2026. source
FOX 4 Dallas–Fort Worth, “Trial underway for suspected drunk driver accused of killed SMU student,” Sept. 29, 2026. source
Hoodline, “Dallas SMU Crash Trial: Driver’s BAC Was 0.294%,” Oct. 2026. source