Travis O’Brian Collins has pleaded guilty to two counts of intoxication manslaughter and will let a jury next week decide his punishment.
Collins was driving a pickup truck that was speeding on Park Avenue and then went airborne at the railroad tracks. The truck landed on a motorcycle driven by 52-year-old Riley Portie and his wife, 50-year-old Emily Portie, who was riding on the back. They were dead on the scene. The collision was May 24, 2015.
Collins, who is 30, pleaded guilty to the two counts before 128th State District Judge Courtney Arkeen on July 13.
He had been set for a trial beginning Monday, July 24. Now instead of deciding his guilt, the jury will listen to testimony and deliberate on a punishment. He faces two to 20 years in prison on each count of intoxication manslaughter, a second-degree felony.
Last year, Collins had a court hearing and was declared incompetent to stand trial. Assistant District Attorney Phillip Smith, who is prosecuting the case, said Collins spent time in a mental hospital.
In April, Judge Arkeen ruled Collins was competent for trial.
The collision made national news because of then-Orange police officer Lieutenant Eric Ellison, now with the Bridge City Police Department, went to the Porties’ house to notify their family about the deaths. Their 17-year-old son, Kazzie, was alone. Ellison stayed with him and convinced him to go through with his high school graduation ceremony later that week.
-Margaret Toal, KOGT-
Social Media