A drug abuse counselor who drove drunk and struck a pedestrian — then drove around with the dying man on her windshield — bawled her eyes out in court as she was sentenced to 55 years to life in prison on Thursday.
A teary-eyed Sherri Lynn Wilkins, 53, was convicted of second-degree murder, drunken driving and a hit-and-run — after killing Phillip Moreno in an LA suburb in 2012.
After plowing into him, Wilkins drove for two miles with Moreno on her windshield, until other motorists swarmed her car at a traffic light and called the cops, prosecutors said.
Her blood-alcohol level was nearly twice the legal limit.
Wilkins was a former heroin abuser before she became a drug counselor. She claimed she was “self-medicating” while waiting for knee replacement on the night of the hit-and-run.
During the trial, she testified she had been drinking that night but wasn’t drunk. She claimed she never saw Moreno coming.
The defense argued that Moreno was drunk and jumped on Wilkins’ car and that she panicked.
Wilkins also told the jury her drug addiction began when she was in a car accident at age 15 and suffered a broken back. Using the drug was “cheaper than going to the doctor,” she said.
Wilkins has also served time for burglary.