TYLER, Texas — A Dallas-area man accused of striking and killing Smith County Deputy Lorenzo Bustos while driving intoxicated has been formally charged with intoxication manslaughter.
Daniel Nyabuto, 21, of Grand Prairie, was indicted on Oct. 13 on a charge of intoxicated manslaughter causing the death of a peace officer, according to online criminal records.
The charge is considered a first-degree felony, which carries a penalty of five to 99 years in prison if the person is found guilty.
Bustos, 29, was on patrol with another deputy on late July 28 in the 14000 block of State Highway 155 S. and had performed a traffic stop with emergency lights activated on the patrol unit, the Smith County Sheriff's Office said.
Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith said the deputies had two people in the vehicle in handcuffs and put them in the back seat of the unit. Bustos was standing several feet behind the unit.
At approximately 12:15 a.m. on July 29, the other deputy, Michael Skinner, called emergency services saying that Bustos had been hit by a different vehicle. Smith said Bustos was "launched under the patrol unit."
The sheriff's office said Bustos was flown to a Tyler hospital, where he died in the ICU around 6 a.m.
Nyabuto, who officials identified as the driver of the vehicle that struck the deputies, was arrested and booked into the Smith County Jail initially on an intoxicated assault charge.
According to an arrest affidavit, a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper said Nyabuto had a strong odor of alcohol emitting from both his breath and person. He did not know where his destination was or where he came from.
The document noted that Nyabuto swayed while he was standing. The trooper wrote in the affidavit that lost his mental and physical faculties and was intoxicated.
He was placed under arrest but refused to give a blood specimen, which officers obtained after a warrant for a blood sample was issued.
He was then transferred to the Gregg County Jail on a bond of $750,000. Nyabuto's passenger, who has not been identified, was charged with public intoxication.
Bustos was in his last day of the "ghost phase," which is a part of SCSO training. He had been with the SCSO for about five months, Smith said. Skinner was taken to a local hospital where he was treated and released.
Before coming to Smith County, Bustos worked at the Henderson Police Department and the Rusk County Sheriff's Office.
Bustos began his law enforcement career in 2012 at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice as a corrections officer and was promoted to Sergeant in 2016.
He graduated from Chapel Hill High School in 2011. According to his obituary, Bustos was known as the "class clown who consistently had a bright smile and could make everyone laugh."
He married his high school sweetheart Gloria and they have three children together (ages 8, 5 and 4).