ORANGE, Texas — A jury was seated and opening statements were heard Monday in the manslaughter trial of a 21-year-old woman from Orange accused of striking and killing a sanitation worker in 2018 in Orange.
Police say that Valyn Faulk was driving the car that struck the rear of a Waste Management garbage truck killing Derrick D. Cane, 28, of Beaumont, in November 2018 along Martin Luther King Drive in Orange.
Faulk, who was 18 at the time of the fatal wreck, will stand trial before Judge Courtney Arkeen in 128th District Court in Orange. She is facing a manslaughter charge and if convicted could face a $10,000 fine and a prison sentence of two to 20 years.
During opening statements, Prosecutor Bard Anderson said that Faulk did not apply the brakes at the time of the fatal crash. After the crash, Cane lived for 30 minutes as witnesses tried to use belts as tourniquets to save his life.
Bard claimed that Cane died because Faulk was not paying attention to the road saying in part, “she was looking at her own face, because she just had to touch up her makeup. That is why Derick is dead.”
After Bard finished his opening statements, the defense began theirs. Defense claimed the sun created a glare, and that Faulk was driving the speed limit at the time of the crash.
Cane was standing next to his truck on a busy highway where drivers are known to drive more than 50 mph, the defense claimed. It was noted that the nature of sanitation truck and delay in medical help contributed to Cane’s death.
Defense said there is no evidence that Faulk was on her cell phone or intoxicated. They also said the mirror in the vehicle was not down as if she was using it, disproving Bard's claim of Faulk doing her makeup at the time of the crash.
A waste management driver who was in the truck at the time of the crash was the first witness to take the stand. She stated that the truck was impacted so hard that she was dazed and injured.
Faulk had originally faced intoxication manslaughter charges but is now standing trial on manslaughter charges according to a court official.
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In 2018 a investigators got a warrant to inspect Faulk's mobile phone according to 12News file stories but they did not initially find evidence that Faulk was talking or texting when the wreck happened.
A family member told 12news recently that Cane's family is frustrated with how long it has taken for the trial to begin.
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This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.