An Odessa man has been indicted in connection with a January crash that took the life of a 38-year-old father of three.
According to an indictment handed down in Ector County District Court May 11, Keegan James Hartsell, 22, was speeding when he drove a vehicle into an oncoming lane of traffic and killed Nicholas Lintner on Jan. 4.
Hartsell is facing one count of criminally negligent homicide, a state jail felony punishable by six months to two years in prison. He was arrested Monday and released from the Ector County jail after posting a $30,000 bond.
District Court records indicate a civil lawsuit has been filed against Hartsell and his employer, Baughman Hollywood Blasting and Coating, by Lintner’s wife, Shawna Warne and mother, Jane Lintner-LaNeave.
According to an Odessa Police Department report and the lawsuit, Lintner was stopped at a red light on Kermit Highway at West County Road when Hartsell crossed into oncoming traffic in a Baughman Hollywood-owned Ford F-250 and struck four different vehicles, including the Chevrolet Silverado Lintner was a passenger in, killing him.
The lawsuit states Hartsell was on-duty and working for the company at the time of the crash.
Warne and Lintner-LaNeave are seeking damages in excess of $1 million.
