Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

A Rusk County man charged with the deaths of three Port Arthur residents was indicted Wednesday on three counts of intoxication manslaughter.

If convicted, Chance Glyn Craddock faces up to 20 years in prison for each second-degree felony charge.

Police say Craddock was intoxicated May 20 at 7:36 p.m. when he was traveling in the 2800 block of Texas 82 near MLK Boulevard. The Ram truck he was driving crossed into southbound traffic, striking a Cadillac sedan head-on.

The crash killed Cadillac passengers Danny “Dani” Nichols Jr., 32; L’Amberia McDaniel, 35; and her daughter, Eriana Washington, 14, and injured a young child.

According to a probable cause affidavit submitted to a Jefferson County grand jury, Craddock’s breath smelled of alcohol when an officer approached him at the scene. The 25-year-old reportedly told police he had taken Zoloft and two anti-anxiety pills several hours prior.

“Craddock told me he had double vision since he took the pills and he admitted that the pills ‘may have had something to do with the wreck,’” the reporting officer wrote.

The driver was then taken to a nearby hospital, where a blood alcohol test revealed he was twice the .08 legal driving limit.

Frederick James Smith Jr., McDaniel’s father and Washington’s grandfather, spoke recently with Port Arthur Newsmedia about his grief since losing his family members, saying he’s relied heavily on faith, friends and family to get through.

Read more here. 

As of Wednesday afternoon, Craddock remained in the Jefferson County Jail on three $500,000 bonds.