TYLER, Texas — Editor's Note: The above video aired in May 2021.
A 22-year-old woman has been indicted in connection with the death of a Tyler High School senior student over two years after the wreck that killed her on State Highway 31.
Talia Janae Smith, of Tyler, was indicted on a criminally negligent homicide charge during a Sept. 28 grand jury session in connection with the May 4, 2021 wreck that killed Patrianna Damrye Pettigrew, 18, of Tyler.
Pettigrew was a senior at Tyler High School at the time of her death.
According to the indictment, Smith caused the death of Pettigrew by speeding, failing to control her speed, making an unsafe lane change and passing another vehicle at a high rate of speed. The document also states Smith operated a vehicle in an unsafe manner and passed another car when it was unsafe to do so.
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, around 10:45 p.m. May 4, troopers responded to a two-vehicle fatal crash on State Highway 31 E., approximately eight miles east of Tyler.
While driving west on SH 31, Smith lost control of the vehicle, possibly due to weather conditions, and traveled into oncoming traffic, DPS said. Smith struck a pickup truck. Pettigrew, who was the passenger, was pronounced dead at the scene and Smith taken to a local hospital in critical condition at the time.
Smith was arrested in October 2021 on the same charge she was indicted for and released from the jail the same day.
Judicial records show Smith's next hearing is set for Nov. 20.