A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for a Texas man who faces a manslaughter charge. It’s been set for 9 a.m. Oct. 11. A formal charge of first degree manslaughter was filed March 22, 2024 in Lincoln County District Court against Travis Smith, 46, of Dallas, Texas.
A $100,000 bench warrant was issued for his arrest. The warrant was returned and filed recently, court records show.
Smith was identified as the driver of a vehicle involved in a fatal traffic collision on the Turner Turnpike in Lincoln County.
Smith appeared before Associate District Judge Sheila Kirk who set his pre-preliminary hearing for 1:30 p.m. Aug. 15. She ordered his $100,000 bond remain as previously set.
The charge states that Smith on Aug. 24, 2023, was driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of an intoxicating substance, a misdemeanor, by driving a 2018 Toyota Yaris on a public road while having an amount of methamphetamine in his blood. As a result, he injured his passenger Daniel Lineberger causing Lineberger’s death on that date.
State Trooper Shayne Ballard states in a probable cause affidavit that at about 11:32 p.m. on Aug. 24, 2024 the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call regarding a fatal traffic collision that occurred on the Turner Turnpike near mile marker 177 in Lincoln County.
The OHP and other law enforcement and first responders arrived, and the OHP began a criminal investigation into the collision, he said. According to the affidavit, physical evidence at the scene indicated that the 2018 Yaris was traveling eastbound on the turnpike when it left the roadway to the right, traveled through the grass, went up a small grass hill before going airborne and colliding with an overhead bridge support beam.
Smith was pinned in the driver’s seat and Lineberger was pinned in the front passenger seat. Both were extricated by first responders.