Man sentenced in Texas crash that killed a founding member of The Chicks.
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A man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after admitting his reckless driving caused a head-on crash in rural West Texas that killed Laura Lynch, a founding member of the country group now known as The Chicks, prosecutors said. The case stemmed from a crash on Dec. 22, 2023, in Hudspeth County, where prosecutors said Domenick Chavez pleaded guilty to manslaughter in connection with Lynch’s death.
According to a news release from the El Paso County District Attorney’s Office, which also oversees nearby Hudspeth County, Chavez, 33, entered his plea and later received the prison term. The release was issued through prosecutors under District Attorney James Montoya.
Prosecutors said Chavez was driving a truck westbound when he attempted to pass four vehicles on a two-way undivided highway. They said that maneuver led to a head-on collision with Lynch’s eastbound truck.
The prosecutors said Lynch, 65 and of Dell City, was trapped in her vehicle and died after the crash. They also described Chavez’s speed as between 106 mph (170 kph) and 114 mph (183 kph).
Prosecutors said alcohol was not a factor in the crash. They said Chavez was driving on a suspended license, which prosecutors tied to his failure to comply with DWI-related surcharges and penalties from convictions in 2014 and 2017.
Lynch, along with Robin Lynn Macy and sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer, formed The Dixie Chicks in the late 1980s. Lynch and Macy later left the band, and Natalie Maines joined the sisters, the group later achieving commercial fame with its breakthrough album “Wide Open Spaces” in 1998, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said the group has won 13 Grammys. In 2020, the band changed its name to The Chicks, and in a social media post after Lynch’s death, the group said Lynch had “infectious energy and humor” and was “instrumental” in the band’s early success.