TEXARKANA -- A man whose passenger suffered a traumatic brain injury after a crash into the fountain in front of Texarkana's downtown federal building was sentenced to five years in prison Monday for intoxication assault.
Harvey Lynn Terry, 54, pleaded guilty earlier this month, but District Judge John Tidwell put off sentencing until Monday so a member of the victim's family could appear in court and deliver a victim-impact statement. Terry appeared for sentencing Monday morning with Chief Public Defender Rick Shumaker.
"He will never be the same. Our family will never be the same," lamented Carolyn Everett, sister to victim Donnie Joe Smith. "I hope no other family has to go through this."
Terry had a blood alcohol level of 0.239, well above the legal limit of 0.08, when his teal Nissan pickup careened into the fountain July 26, 2016, shortly before 1 a.m., according to a probable-cause affidavit.
Smith, 62, at the time of the crash, suffered a traumatic brain injury, bleeding in his brain and respiratory failure as a result of the crash but survived.
A lawsuit accusing the International Room of overserving Terry and Smith was filed last year in Miller County Circuit Court. The suit alleges the men were allowed to leave the Texarkana bar and drive in a state of visible intoxication.
The International Room filed a response last year denying any wrongdoing. The bar denies Terry was obviously intoxicated when he was served alcohol there and alleges he is to blame for the crash.
State Desk on 08/18/2017