Riverside County woman who ran over father charged with murder

A woman who authorities say ran over her father while he was trying to prevent her from driving drunk has been charged with second-degree murder in Southern California.

Soukvilay Barton has pleaded not guilty and was held Thursday on $1 million bail. She is due back in court May 6.

The Riverside Press-Enterprise reported Thursday that Barton is accused under a strategy known as a “Watson murder” – in which prosecutors argue that defendants such as Barton who have previous DUI convictions should have known that drunken driving can injure or kill others.

Police said the 38-year-old ignored her father’s pleas not to drive and backed her BMW out of the garage, striking him. Sixty-nine-year-old Bounmy Rajsombath died at a hospital last June.

Barton’s attorney could not be reached for comment Thursday.