A woman who had earlier overcome drug abuse has been convicted of second-degree murder and other charges after driving 2 miles with a man on her windshield whom she had drunkenly struck with her car.
Sherri Lynn Wilkins, 52, was driving home from the treatment center where she worked as a substance abuse counselor when she hit the man in November 2012 in a Los Angeles suburb, The Associated Press reported.
She was convicted Tuesday of second-degree murder, drunken driving and hit-and-run related to the incident, which claimed the life of 31-year-old Phillip Moreno.
A former heroin addict who quit and earned a degree in addiction counseling, Wilkins exhibited no emotion when the jury came back with the verdict, the AP reported.
"The way she treated Phillip Moreno struck at human dignity," Deputy District Attorney John Harlan, the lead prosecutor, said after the verdict, according to the AP. "This case has been about human dignity. We do not tolerate someone who does not pull over when they see someone on their windshield."
The AP could not reach Wilkins' lawyer, Nan Whitfield, for comment. In the case, Whitfield's defense had been that Moreno was drunk and jumped on the car, after which Wilkins panicked.
The substance abuse counselor testified that she didn't see the man coming at all "as if he fell out of the sky."
Wilkins, who began using heroin after major injuries suffered in a car accident at 15 years old, said she had been "self-medicating" while awaiting knee replacement surgery the night of the accident with vodka and beer but wasn't drunk.
She now faces a maximum sentence of 45 years to life, according to the AP.
"Harlan said during the trial that the force of the crash punched a hole in the passenger side of Wilkins' window, and Moreno lost his shoes and pants, but still she didn't stop to render aid or call 911," the AP reported.
Motorists driving by noticed the man on her windshield and surrounded Wilkins' car at a traffic stop until police arrived.
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