Smith County, TX — December 9, 2025, Alexandrya Bailey was killed and another person was injured in an alleged drunk driver accident at about 12:30 a.m. on entrance ramp to Toll 49 near Noonday.
A preliminary accident report indicates that a 2015 Nissan Altima was heading the wrong way in the eastbound lanes when it collided with a 2012 Toyota Camry near Old Noonday Road.
The Toyota driver, a 19-year-old woman, was critically injured in the crash, according to the report, while passenger Alexandrya Jennifer Bailey, 21, of Tyler died.
The Nissan driver, who also died, was intoxicated at the time of the crash, the report states.
Authorities have not released any additional information about the Smith County crash at this time.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
When I read about incidents like this one, what stands out to me isn’t just what happened, but what’s missing from the conversation. We often hear that a driver was allegedly intoxicated, and the focus understandably centers there. But there’s another question that doesn’t get asked often enough: how did that person become intoxicated in the first place, and did someone enable it?
Reports indicate that the driver in this crash was intoxicated. If that’s accurate, then it raises an important issue under Texas law: where was the alcohol served, and should it have been? Texas dram shop law allows families and injured parties to examine whether a bar, restaurant or other alcohol provider overserved a patron who was obviously intoxicated. That’s not about shifting blame away from the driver. It’s about recognizing that alcohol providers have responsibilities, too.
It may surprise people to learn that in many drunk driving investigations, determining where the alcohol came from isn’t always a priority for law enforcement. Their job is to address the criminal side of the case. But whether an establishment continued serving someone who was clearly impaired is usually a separate question. That’s the kind of question dram shop law is built to answer.
In this case, the victim lost her life, and the injured party is left to deal with the consequences of someone else’s decision to drive while intoxicated. If alcohol was served to the point of obvious impairment, there may be more to this story than people realize. Accountability doesn’t necessarily stop with the person behind the wheel.
At the end of the day, when I reflect on cases like this, I come back to the same thought: meaningful accountability requires asking the questions others overlook.
First, Texas law allows families and injured parties to investigate whether an alcohol provider contributed to a crash by overserving an obviously intoxicated patron.
Second, a thorough investigation often requires looking beyond the crash itself to understand what happened in the hours leading up to it.
Third, the law offers tools that many people don’t know they can use; tools designed to uncover the full picture and ensure that responsibility rests wherever it truly belongs.
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