GUILTY

Driver Who Killed Dixie Chicks Member Learns His Fate

Investigators say he was driving between 106 and 114 mph at the time of the crash.

The driver who killed Laura Lynch, 65, one of the founding members of the Dixie Chicks, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after admitting to driving recklessly and causing the crash. According to KFOX14, Domenick Chavez, 33, pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Investigators say he was driving between 106 and 114 mph when he crashed head-on into Lynch’s car in December 2023. The crash occurred outside El Paso, Texas, and Lynch died at the scene, while Chavez was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. At the time of the crash, Chavez was not under the influence, but he was driving with a suspended license that had been revoked after two DWI-related convictions. Lynch played upright bass and co-founded what was then called the Dixie Chicks, later The Chicks, in 1989 alongside Robin Lynn Macy on guitar and sisters Martie and Emily Erwin. She left the band in 1995. Following her death, The Chicks released a statement paying tribute to their founding member, saying the band holds a “special place” in their hearts “for the time we spent playing music, laughing and traveling together.”