A Texas woman who killed a college student in a drunken crash has been sentenced to seven years in prison, after which she will be forced to return to jail on Christmas and the birthdays of her victims for the following decade.
She was convicted earlier this month on intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault charges, and sentenced to seven years in prison plus 10 years’ probation.
After her release, Pollis will also serve an additional 15 days in jail each year of her probation, including the days around the victims’ birthdays, her own birthday, at Christmas, and the date of the crash.
The parents of Wallace and Solberg condemned Pollis at her sentencing hearing for putting their families through a grueling two-week trial, saying she could have spared them with a guilty plea.
‘You were so drunk, and you wouldn’t admit it,’ Solberg’s father Bobby told the court, per the Dallas Morning News.
‘You made us sit through this trial… We’ve seen no personal accountability from you.’
Wallace’s father said in his victim impact statement: ‘You took the most precious gift from us through your selfishness. Own it. Own what you did.’
Lynlee Pollis, 30, who killed a college student in a drunken crash, has been sentenced to seven years in prison followed by returns to jail on the birthdays of her victims
The crash in September 2023 killed Southern Methodist University student Honor Wallace, 19, and severely injured her friend
Pollis was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs after the sentencing hearing, and she was reportedly seen mouthing ‘I love you’ to her family as she was escorted to jail.
Police said the crash that killed Wallace came when Pollis slammed into her car as she drove through a green light at an intersection.
Pollis was traveling 67mph in a 35mph zone at the time, and had run a red light that had changed over five seconds beforehand when she collided with Wallace’s vehicle.
Wallace suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at hospital, while Solberg, who was in the passenger seat, was diagnosed with severe brain trauma.
Solberg testified at the trial that she continues to suffer side effects from her injuries, including debilitating migraines.
Prosecutors said Pollis had been drinking a significant amount of alcohol before she drove on the day of the crash, and her blood alcohol levels were found to be 0.294% – almost four times the legal limit.
‘This was no accident. This was no mistake,’ prosecutor Andrew James said in his closing argument.
‘It was predictable consequences of the defendant’s choices.’
Pollis was traveling 67mph in a 35mph zone at the time of the crash, and her blood alcohol levels were found to be 0.294% – almost four times the legal limit
When Pollis is released, a judge ordered her to serve an additional 15 days in jail each year of her probation, including the days around the victims’ birthdays, her own birthday, at Christmas, and the date of the crash
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.
