The driver who killed a toddler and a Good Samaritan in a 2018 crash pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of manslaughter and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. His punishment will be two stacked 18-year terms in state prison.
Orange County District Attorney John Kimbrough said tests showed 32-year-old Stevan Shonn Smith had methamphetamine in his system when the Ford F-250 pickup truck he was driving crashed into the back of a disabled Saturn sedan along the Interstate 10 service road near FM 1135.
A 2-year-old girl from New Orleans was killed as she sat in her safety seat in the back of her mother’s car. Also killed was 46-year-old Pedro Jose Soza-Orozco of Groves. Soza-Orozco had pulled his pickup truck in the front of the Saturn to attach a chain to the car so he could pull it away.
Smith’s large pickup crashed into the back of the Saturn. The impact killed the child and seriously injured her mother in the driver’s seat. Soza-Orozco was killed immediately between the sedan and his pickup.
Smith’s young daughter was a passenger in his truck and she was also injured.
Kimbrough said the black box from Smith’s pickup showed he never applied the brakes before hitting the Saturn.
The girl’s mother and father appeared in court before 128th State District Judge Courtney Arkeen to make impact statements to Smith.
The district attorney praised the work of Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Jesse Bodiford for his work with the victims’ families and investigating the crash. Because of Bodiford’s work, prosecutors were able to get a strong punishment in the case, Kimbrough said.
The charges carry a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison. Smith pleaded in exchange for 18 years each. Under state rules, he must serve a minimum of nine years in prison before being eligible for parole.
-Margaret Toal, KOGT-
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