Calif. woman accused of driving drunk, killing and carrying pedestrian is addiction counselor

TORRANCE, Calif. – A suspected drunken motorist accused of driving more than two miles with a dying man on her hood was a former addict who seemingly had turned her life around and was a respected drug and alcohol counselor, her boss said.

Sherri Wilkins, 51, was scheduled to appear in a California courtroom Tuesday after she was arrested late Saturday on suspicion of driving under the influence and manslaughter, Torrance police Sgt. Robert Watt said.

Phillip Moreno, 31, was crossing the street when he was hit, Watt said. Wilkins drove with him on the hood until other motorists persuaded her to stop, police said. Wilkins said later that she panicked after the accident and kept driving.

Despite her spotty background, including a previous hit-and-run arrest, her employer, David Lisonbee, CEO of Twin Tower Treatment, said Wilkins always earned high marks with her patients and didn't show any signs of a relapse at work.

Describing the new grandmother as "an incredibly sweet person," Lisonbee said it wasn't unusual for drug and alcohol counselors to have addiction in their own past, as well as trouble with the law, because it helps them connect with their patients.

"This absolutely came out of the blue. If I were to rank someone for risk of relapse, she would be pretty low on the list," he said.

Lisonbee said he didn't know what Wilkins had been addicted to prior to the accident.

Wilkins's previous hit-and-run arrest in Torrance was from May 30, 2010. Charges were not pursued because Wilkins had no alcohol in her system nor was she found to be under the influence of other substances, according to Assistant City Attorney Patrick Sullivan.

An agreement was reached between Wilkins and owners of the other vehicles, and the hit-and-run case was dismissed, he said.

She had a petty theft conviction with a prior in 1992 and was sentenced to 16 months in prison. In 1994, she was convicted with a co-defendant on one count of burglary and was sentenced to nine years in prison.

___

Associated Press reporter Linda Deutsch contributed to this report from Los Angeles.