Trial begins for Grand Prairie man accused in traffic death of Smith County deputy
TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - Trial began Wednesday for a Grand Prairie man accused in the 2022 death of a Smith County Deputy.
Daniel Nyabuto is charged with intoxicated manslaughter in the death of Lorenzo Bustos, who was in the final stages of his training with the Smith County Sheriff’s Department.
“The evidence will be overwhelming, and it’s going to be tragic,” said Smith County Assistant District Richard Vance Attorney during opening statements.
Prosecutors allege that in the early hours of July 29, 2022, Nyabuto struck Bustos with his vehicle while he was conducting a traffic stop. They say evidence, including sobriety tests and recipients from bars in the area that night, will prove that Nyabuto was intoxicated.
“It’s going to explain how much time he had to stop,” said Vance of the evidence.
The defense argued in their opening statements and with witnesses that officers did not take the necessary safety precautions during the nighttime traffic stop.
“They had numerous opportunities to reduce their risk,” said defense attorney Gary Trichter during opening statements. “For 23 minutes they did nothing.”
The state called two witnesses in the morning. First was a man whose Google Nest camera captured the accident. The witness ran out of his home to assist officers and testified to seeing Deputy Michael Skinner clutching Bustos in his arms.
The defense called into question the deputies’ methods in the traffic stop they were conducting. Trichter noted that the witness’s driveway had ample room for the vehicle undergoing the traffic stop to pull forward, implying that Bustos’s vehicle was unsafely in the highway.
The state also called another witness who was driving southbound on 155 and saw Nyabuto driving “fast” northbound in his side mirror. He heard the crash and turned around, where he was instructed by the deputy on scene to help direct traffic.
The defense questioned the driver about the officer’s use of lights on scene. In his opening statement, Trichter said that officers were wearing black clothing.
“You are going to feel horrible about the actions of deputies that put this death into action,” said Trichter.
The driver testified that the lights on the deputies vehicle were a “10″ on a 1-10 scale of brightness.
The case resumes at the Smith County Courthouse at 1:30 p.m.
3 p.m. update:
Detective James Holt, a digital forensics expert with Tyler PD testified for the state. He was able to enhance the nest camera video shown this morning from the first witness’s residence. The enhanced video shows a shadowy figure of Bustos being struck in the distance as he stands behind his patrol vehicle, allegedly by Nyabuto.
Skinner took the stand as the attorneys debated how much of his bodycam footage to show. He was shadowing Bustos on the night of his death, which was the final day of Bustos’ “ghost” phase, in which recruits are shadowed by officers.
5:30 p.m. update:
Bodycam footage from Skinner continues. The video depicts multiple cars passing the traffic stop, with the state pausing at each instance to point out that there is room to pass. The moment when the car allegedly driven by Nyabuto strikes the deputy’s cruiser was then shown from several angles: once from the dashcam from both cruisers, and once from Skinner’s bodycam.
A female passenger in the back of the cruiser can be heard screaming and asking what happened. The woman is eventually seen in the bodycam footage as Skinner discovers Bustos’ body underneath the cruiser. Skinner is seen pulling Bustos out into the open to check him, removing his vest and clothing as he continues to repeat his name and ask him to speak.
Skinner noted at the stand that Bustos was still breathing after the crash but was mostly unresponsive. Skinner said that when he moved to support the back of Bustos’ head with his hand, he felt that the back of the man’s skull was flat, indicating major trauma. The state asked Skinner why he continued to talk to Bustos if the man was not speaking.
“It seemed like every time I talked to him, he breathed a little harder,” Skinner said.
Nyabuto eventually appeared in the footage, approaching Skinner as he tended to Bustos. Nyabuto was sitting and crawling on the ground, and could be heard asking questions like “what happened,” and “is he ok.” The state pointed out that Bustos could easily be seen on the ground, and Nyabuto was clearly in a confused state.
Skinner could be heard entering code 55 into the radio and describing a “skinny black male,” and he explained at the stand that 55 means intoxicated driver. EMS eventually arrived on the scene, and one paramedic could be heard telling the deputies to take a breath and handle the situation.
As Bustos was loaded into the ambulance, the footage ended. At this, Russell dismissed the court for the day to return at 9 a.m. Thursday.
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