Woman charged with intoxicated manslaughter after crash killed three Baird teens in May

Three teenagers were killed in an early morning crash on May 5 in Baird, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. The driver accused of being drunk when her car struck and killed them has new charges.

Ashlie Diane Haynes, 36, of Clyde was arrested at 10:40 a.m. Tuesday morning by the Texas Department of Public Safety.

She faces three charges of intoxication manslaughter — involuntary manslaughter-DWI, according to online Callahan County records. She also faces two charges of aggravated assault.

Haynes was being held Tuesday in the Callahan County Jail on $400,000 in total bonds, according to online jail records.

She has yet to be indicted on any of these charges, according to the Callahan County District Clerk's office.

Haynes was previously arrested and booked into the Callahan County Jail for a DWI charge, according to DPS.

This comes on the heels of an intoxicated manslaughter indictment involving a different defendant after another Baird teen died in a head-on collision in March.

Anyone charged with a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court beyond a reasonable doubt.

'Failed to yield'

It was just after 2 a.m. on May 5 when officers were dispatched to a crash in Baird at the intersection of Peyton Street and West Third.

The posted speed limit was 35 mph where the crash occurred, and the teenagers who died were passengers in a 2008 Kia Spectra sedan, according to a DPS media release. The driver of the Kia was James May, 19, of Baird.

The teens in the crash were Layni Potter, 18, Madi Buchanan, also 18, and an unidentified 16-year-old male, according to the DPS. All three of the teenagers were from Baird in Callahan County.

According to the preliminary DPS investigation, the Kia was "traveling south on Peyton Street and had stopped at a stop sign" on Peyton and West Third.

Haynes was driving a 2009 Chevrolet Silverado truck west on West Third Street when the Kia "failed to yield the right of way" to Haynes, according to DPS allegations. As a result, Haynes' Silverado struck the Kia, and three teenage passengers were ejected from the Kia during the collision.

None of those ejected was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.

May was transported by ambulance to Hendrick Medical Center with non-incapacitating injuries where he was treated and released, according to the DPS. He, however, was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.

Dakota Kitchens, 19, of Baird was also a passenger in the Kia. He was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, and he was transported by ambulance to Hendrick Medical Center for treatment of non-incapacitating injuries. Kitchens survived.

Haynes was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash. She was treated at the scene of the crash for non-incapacitating injuries.

Potter, Buchanan and the 16-year-old were pronounced dead at the scene by Justice of the Peace Steve Odom, according to the DPS.

Up to 20 years in prison if convicted

During the investigation, Haynes consented to a breath test, which revealed that her blood alcohol concentration was over the legal limit, according to allegations in the DPS press release.

She was initially arrested and booked into the Callahan County Jail for a DWI charge, according to DPS.

On Tuesday, however, she was charged with three counts of intoxicated manslaughter, in addition to two counts of aggravated assault.

According to Taylor County Assistant District Attorney Erin Stamey, a conviction of intoxicated manslaughter is a second-degree felony that carries a possible sentence of two to 20 years in prison. A conviction of aggravated assault carries the same possible sentence.

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This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Intoxicated manslaughter charges filed after death of three Baird teens