SMU student Honor Wallace, 19, from suburban Detroit, was killed Sept. 24, 2023, by a suspected drunk driver who ran a red light on the northbound service road of North Central Expressway and Monticello Avenue.
Family photo
Mike Tignor was waiting at a red light on a Sunday afternoon in September 2023 when the white Volkswagen Jetta in front of him began moving through the intersection of Monticello Avenue and North Central Expressway.
Then, he testified Monday, a speeding white Lexus SUV came down the expressway’s feeder road, ran a red light and plowed into the passenger side of the Jetta, briefly sending it airborne.
“It came out of nowhere,” Tignor said in a state district court in Dallas County. “I heard no braking from the Lexus. It was going at a very high rate of speed.”
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The crash is something Tignor said continues to haunt him every time he drives through the intersection.
Tignor’s testimony came on the first day of trial for Lynlee Pollis, charged with killing 19-year-old Southern Methodist University student Honor Wallace and seriously injuring Wallace’s friend, who was in the passenger seat.
Pollis, 27 at the time, suffered a fractured ankle and a welt on her forehead in the crash. Her dog, a husky named Tequila, riding with her, was not hurt.
Pollis is charged with intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault. The first count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and the second is punishable by up to 10.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys agree Pollis was speeding and ran the red light. The central dispute presented to jurors Monday was whether she was intoxicated.
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Dallas County Assistant District Attorney Lauren Black told jurors that blood taken from Pollis at the hospital showed her blood alcohol content was “well over” the legal limit, though she did not say how much.
According to an arrest-warrant affidavit reported by The Dallas Morning News, a Dallas police officer responded to the hospital where Pollis had been taken and observed that she had “glassy eyes, slurred speech and an odor of alcoholic beverage” coming from her. Pollis told an officer she had a single margarita infused with tequila shots, the affidavit said.
Defense attorney Scott Palmer conceded in his opening statement that his client was speeding and ran the red light. But she was not intoxicated, he said.
Multiple witnesses had said they did not smell alcohol on her and that she did not appear drunk, Palmer said.
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Body camera video recorded that day will show her speech was not slurred and that other than her injured ankle, she was able to stand without wobbling, he said.
“There were five people in there with her,” Palmer said of the ambulance that took Pollis to the hospital. “None of them said they smelled alcohol.”
Palmer also alleged that the blood evidence was mishandled at the hospital.
“There are glaring gaps and holes” in the prosecution’s case, he said.
After the crash
Tignor said after the collision, the Lexus stopped momentarily and then began to drive away.
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Fearing the driver was going to flee, he followed until the SUV stopped about 100 yards away. Tignor said he parked at an angle next to it to try to keep it from leaving.
He said Pollis looked disheveled and appeared to be favoring one leg when she got out.
When Black asked whether he smelled alcohol on Pollis, Tignor said, “I did not smell alcohol. Not at all.”
Honor Wallace, an SMU student killed in a 2023 crash, with her father, David Wallace, who testified Monday in the trial of the woman charged in his daughter’s death.
Family photo
In other testimony Monday, Wallace’s father, David Wallace, told the jury that his daughter decided she wanted to attend SMU during a family trip to his alma mater.
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“She just fell in love with SMU, the campus and Dallas in general,” he said.
A father remembers
Wallace described his daughter as kind and generous.
“She led a life full of integrity,” he said.
At the end of his testimony, David Wallace smiled as the prosecutor showed him a photo of his daughter taken during a family trip. It was one of her favorites, he said.
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When the prosecutor showed him a photo taken during her autopsy, tears welled in his eyes and his voice trembled as he confirmed it was Honor. His wife, Caroline, and their other daughter, Harper, wept from their seats in the courtroom.
Pollis’ trial will continue Tuesday before Judge Jennifer Balido. It’s expected to last several days.