The man charged in connection with a February 5 fatal accident appeared in court for the first time on Tuesday.

Thirty-year-old Gregory Smith faces three counts of intoxication manslaughter. He was allegedly driving while high on PCP when he crashed into a van and killed Piedad Soriano, her daughter Diana Escobar and grandchild, three-month-old Ricardo Escobar Junior.

The crash happened in northwest Harris County at Antoine Drive and Beltway 8.

Smith rolled into the courtroom on Tuesday in a wheelchair. His defense lawyer Bryan Savoy said his mental health problems were to blame for his actions.

Describing the accident as tragic, Savoy said Smith had been struggling his entire life with bipolar disorder and paranoid schizophrenia and like many people, he self-medicated.

Savoy said Smith went to three medical facilities for his mental challenges in the ten days before the crash, but the system failed him.

 He said his client then he resorted to drugs to help him deal with his issues.

However, Karen Soriano, one relative of the victims, said those excuses won’t bring the accident victims back. She said she didn’t think Smith’s mental health issues were adequate justification.

Soriana also argued that PCP was not a drug people used to self-medicate since it makes individuals hallucinate and become violent.

Meanwhile, Sean Teare of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office said Smith would likely be facing felony murder charges within the next ten days.

He said the underlying felony will be unauthorized use of a motor vehicle since investigations revealed that Smith was not authorized to use the car that day.

Savoy said he plans to fight against the upgrade in charges.

Gregory Smith could spend up to 70 years in prison if convicted of the current charges. If the charges are upgraded, he could be sentenced to life in prison.

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