A Texas woman convicted of killing a college student in a drunken crash will spend seven years in prison and, after her release, return to jail each year on Christmas and the birthdays of those affected for the next decade.
Lynlee Pollis, 30, killed 19-year-old Southern Methodist University student Honor Wallace and seriously injured Wallace’s friend, 21-year-old Catherine “CeCe” Solberg, in a September 2023 crash in Dallas, Texas.
Earlier this month, Pollis was convicted of intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault. She received a seven-year prison sentence followed by 10 years of probation.
As part of her probation, Pollis will spend an additional 15 days in jail each year. Those periods will include time around Wallace and Solberg’s birthdays, Pollis’s own birthday, Christmas and the anniversary of the crash.
At the sentencing hearing, the families of Wallace and Solberg criticized Pollis for forcing them to endure a two-week trial, saying a guilty plea could have spared them further pain.
“You were so drunk, and you wouldn’t admit it,” Solberg’s father, Bobby, told the court, according to the Dallas Morning News.
“You made us sit through this trial… We’ve seen no personal accountability from you.”
In his victim impact statement, Wallace’s father said: “You took the most precious gift from us through your selfishness. Own it. Own what you did.”
Lynlee Pollis, 30, has been sentenced to seven years in prison after killing a college student in a drunken crash, followed by yearly returns to jail on the victims’ birthdays
The September 2023 crash killed Southern Methodist University student Honor Wallace, 19, and left her friend severely injured
Pollis was led from the courtroom in handcuffs after the hearing. As she was escorted to jail, she was reportedly seen mouthing “I love you” to members of her family.
Police said Wallace was killed when Pollis crashed into her vehicle as Wallace drove through an intersection on a green light.
Pollis was driving 67 mph in a 35 mph zone and ran a red light that had changed more than five seconds earlier before striking Wallace’s car.
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Wallace sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at a hospital. Solberg, who was sitting in the passenger seat, suffered severe brain trauma.
During the trial, Solberg testified that she continues to experience effects from her injuries, including debilitating migraines.
Prosecutors said Pollis had consumed a significant amount of alcohol before driving. Her blood alcohol level was measured at 0.294%, nearly four times the legal limit.
“This was no accident. This was no mistake,” prosecutor Andrew James said during his closing argument.
“It was predictable consequences of the defendant’s choices.”
Pollis was driving 67 mph in a 35 mph zone when the crash occurred, and her blood alcohol level was 0.294%—nearly four times the legal limit
After her release, Pollis must spend an additional 15 days in jail each year of probation, including time around the victims’ birthdays, her own birthday, Christmas and the crash anniversary
Honor Wallace’s father described her as a ‘precious gift’
Pollis’s attorneys had requested she be sentenced to only probation because she had no prior criminal record, but James said such a sentence would be ‘completely inappropriate’ given the circumstances of the crash.
Friends of the victims laid into Pollis at her sentencing hearing, with Haley Keller saying she is still haunted by the sight of Solberg in hospital covered in Wallace’s blood.
‘I couldn’t get the sight of all that blood out of my mind,’ Keller said. ‘Wherever I looked I saw Honor’s blood all over CeCe.’
Pollis’s father said his daughter had been filled with regret every day since the crash, and said she was on suicide watch for days after the incident as she wished she was the one who died.