TYLER, Texas — EDITOR'S NOTE: The attached video is from August 2022.
The trial for a man accused of striking and killing Smith County Deputy Lorenzo Bustos while driving intoxicated last July has been postponed.
Daniel Nyabuto, 21, of Grand Prairie, is charged with intoxication manslaughter and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in connection with Smith County Deputy Lorenzo Bustos' death when he was struck by a vehicle in the later hours of July 28, 2022 on State Highway 155 S.
During a hearing on Wednesday, defense attorney Matt Bingham said because of a large amount of evidence submitted after the deadline, the defense could not move forward on May 1 (the originally set trial date).
The prosecution did not dispute changing the trial to a later date.
Judge Kerry Russell of the 7th District Court then approved resetting the case for a future date and asked both the state and defense to discuss dates that would work for them.
Both sides said they believe the trial would last at least a week, but it could also go into a second week possibly.
Bustos, 29, was on patrol with another deputy in the later hours of 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.
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.
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.
He was then transferred to the Gregg County Jail, where he currently remains jailed. Nyabuto's passenger, who has not been identified, was charged with public intoxication.
According to an arrest affidavit, a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper said Nyabuto did not know where his destination was or where he came from. Nyabuto swayed while he was standing.
The trooper wrote in the affidavit that lost his mental and physical faculties and was intoxicated.
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.