The substance-abuse counselor accused of killing a Torrance man while driving
drunk was charged with murder and faces life in prison if convicted, prosecutors
said.
Sherri Wilkins, 51, appeared in court Tuesday but postponed her arraignment until next month on felony charges of murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, DUI causing injury, drunken driving while causing injury and leaving the scene of an accident, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.
Wilkins has two prior burglary convictions and is a third-striker, prosecutors said. She is being held on $2.25-million bail.
Police said Wilkins' car hit Phillip Moreno, 31, as he tried to cross Torrance Boulevard on Saturday night and kept driving more than two miles with the man embedded in her car's windshield. Other motorists managed to stop her at 182nd Street and Crenshaw Boulevard and grab her keys, Torrance police Sgt. Robert Watt said.
Moreno had a pulse when officers arrived but was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Watt said Wilkins had a blood-alcohol level more than double the 0.08 legal limit.
Wilkins had a certification in drug and alcohol counseling and worked at a Torrance treatment center, where she led small group classes six evenings a week. She wrote in an undated Myspace profile that she "used to be into drugs very heavy" and "with that came terrible choices," but that she had been sober for 11 years.
Wow, don't they do background checks on these counselors? Two prior burglary convictions, some people just cannot change. This poor victim had his whole life ahead of him, only 31 years old.
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