Andrea Tanner Arrested in Tyler Fatal December Hit-and-Run Killing 19-year-old Bicyclist

Andrea Tanner, 39, of Tyler, was arrested Monday and booked into the Smith County Jail on a $250,000 bond after police charged her with collision involving injury or death, a second-degree felony, in a December hit-and-run that left a 19-year-old bicyclist dead. The collision occurred on Dec. 7, 2025, in the 2600 block of E. 5th Street; the bicyclist was taken to a hospital and later died.

Police say investigators pieced the case together using surveillance video from multiple local businesses that captured Tanner’s vehicle behavior after the crash. Video allegedly shows Tanner pulling into a Taco Bell parking lot, picking up a man, and exiting her vehicle multiple times to check or manipulate the truck’s grill - the Taco Bell stop helped authorities identify Tanner, according to the arrest affidavit and investigative summaries.

Officers who inspected Tanner’s truck reported finding what appeared to be part of a bicycle seat lodged in the vehicle’s front grill. The arrest affidavit records Tanner’s initial statement that she believed she had hit something that might have caused a flat tire and that she heard a “pop” when she struck an object in the road. Police noted the truck continued driving “much farther than someone would normally travel if they believed they had a flat tire.”

The arrest affidavit includes several of Tanner’s recorded reactions and admissions. When told investigators believed a bicyclist had been directly in front of her, Tanner allegedly responded, “That is wild,” and said she “had been looking straight ahead the entire time.” Tanner told police she “should have gone back” after the collision but “was ready to get home,” and that she “had no reason not to return but admitted that ‘in her mind, she was hoping it was nothing serious.’” She also told officers she “tried to keep herself calm after the crash because she knows she can ‘panic’ and ‘freak out.’”

Authorities emphasized the severity of the collision in their affidavit, with a law enforcement assertion that it would have been “impossible to be in [Tanner’s] truck and not realize that you had been involved in a serious collision.” The case will be forwarded to the Smith County District Attorney’s Office for prosecutorial review.

Reporting differs on the victim’s identification: some outlets have named the bicyclist as Lofton Williams, 19, of Argyle, while police documents indicate the victim was a 19-year-old and at least one local outlet is withholding the name at the family’s request. Court filings and the district attorney’s review are expected to provide the next public steps in the investigation and any scheduled hearings.