128th District Judge Courtney Arkeen set a July 25 trial date for the man accused of intoxication manslaughter in the deaths of a Little Cypress couple who were riding a motorcycle when they were hit by an airborne pickup truck last May.
29-year-old Travis OBrian Collins of Orange pleaded “not guilty” to the two charges Friday morning. He has been out of jail on bond pending the outcome of the case.
He is accused of being drunk and driving the pickup truck that killed 52-year-old Riley Portie and his wife, 50-year-old Emily Portie.
The couple were riding a motorcycle westbound on Park Avenue the evening of May 24. After they crossed the railroad tracks, a speeding pickup truck went airborne at the raised tracks and landed on top of them.
The story of the Porties went worldwide after Orange Police Lieutenant Eric Ellison went to their son’s high school graduation in full uniform days later. Lieutenant Ellison had been the officer who had to tell 17-year-old Kazzie Portie that both of his parents had died.
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