A Texas woman convicted of driving drunk and killing a college student in 2023 has been sentenced to seven years in prison. After her release, she must also spend 15 days in jail every year for a decade—including Christmas, her own birthday and the birthdays of the two victims.
Lynlee Pollis, 30, was found guilty of intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault in the September 2023 Dallas crash that killed Southern Methodist University student Honor Wallace and seriously injured Wallace’s friend and passenger, Catherine “CeCe” Solberg, The Dallas Morning News reported.
State District Judge Jennifer Balido ordered Pollis to serve 10 years of probation after completing her prison term. During each year of probation, Pollis will be required to report to jail for 15 days.
Those mandatory jail days will include the three days surrounding Wallace’s birthday, Solberg’s birthday, Pollis’ birthday, Christmas and the anniversary of the fatal crash.
During his victim impact statement, Solberg’s father, Bobby, confronted Pollis over the crash and the trial.
“You were so drunk and you wouldn’t admit it,” he said. “You made us sit through this [trial] for three weeks.”
Bobby Solberg also accused Pollis of failing to take responsibility, while Wallace’s father delivered a similar message.
“You took the most precious gift from us through your selfishness,” David Wallace said. “Own it. Own what you did.”
The sentence was imposed Wednesday after jurors deliberated for roughly three hours following an emotional two-and-a-half-week trial.
According to previous reporting, Pollis was driving 67 mph in a 35 mph zone when she ran a red light in Dallas and crashed into the vehicle carrying Wallace and Solberg.
Wallace, 19, died at a hospital. Solberg, who was seated in the passenger seat, suffered a broken collarbone and a traumatic brain injury.
Haley Keller, a friend of the students, described the disturbing scene at the hospital, where Solberg was wearing a neck brace and covered in Wallace’s blood.
“I couldn’t get the sight of all that blood out of my mind,” Keller testified. “Wherever I looked, I saw Honor’s blood all over CeCe.”
Pollis sustained a fractured ankle and a bump to her forehead in the collision. Her husky, Tequila, was also in the vehicle but was not injured.
Prosecutor Andrew James told jurors during closing arguments that the crash was the foreseeable result of Pollis’ decisions.
Blood testing conducted hours after the crash recorded Pollis’ blood alcohol concentration at 0.294%—nearly four times Texas’ legal driving limit.
Pollis’ attorneys acknowledged that she had been speeding and gone through a red light, but disputed that she was intoxicated. They argued the blood alcohol result could not be trusted because of problems involving the sample’s collection, storage and testing.
The defense asked jurors to recommend probation, pointing to Pollis’ lack of prior felony convictions. James countered that probation was “completely inappropriate” given the danger created by her conduct.
“Prison is where you put the worst of the worst,” defense attorney Scott Palmer said during closing arguments.
Palmer added that Pollis was “a good person who made a terrible decision” and would have to live with the consequences for the rest of her life.
