A Los Angeles substance-abuse counselor was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison on Thursday for allegedly driving drunk, hitting a man and driving two miles while the dying man was impaled in her windshield in 2012.
Prosecutors charged Sherri Wilkins, 55, with one count each of second-degree murder, driving under the influence causing injury, driving with a .08 percent blood-alcohol content and hit-and-run, according to local newspaper the Daily Breeze. She pleaded no contest on Thursday and was immediately sentenced.
The incident happened in 2012 when Sherri Wilkins, 55, was reportedly driving drunk and struck 31-year-old Phillip Moreno as he was crossing the street in Torrance, California at night, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Moreno was reportedly facedown and embedded into the windshield and hood of Wilkins’ car. Police said Wilkins panicked and kept driving until other people stopped her car and took away her keys.
He had a pulse when officers arrived, but was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Wilkins told police she was heading home from work as a substance-abuse counselor at the Twin Town Treatment Center, but the center denies that she was working that night, according to the Times.
Wilkins said she drank three vodka shots and a beer in her car before she started driving. Investigators said her blood-alcohol level was nearly twice the legal limit 90 minutes after the crash, but the defense argued that there hadn’t been enough time for her blood-alcohol level to exceed the legal limit of .08.
In 2014, Wilkins was found guilty of similar charges and sentenced to 55 years to life in prison. The conviction was later overturned by an appeals court because her entire criminal history, which included a history of drug abuse, was admitted at trial and could have prejudiced the jury, according to the Daily Breeze.
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