Rialto woman to stand trial in deadly crash in Desert Hot Springs

INDIO (CNS) - A judge ruled on Friday that a 27-year-old woman accused of colliding with a motorcyclist in Desert Hot Springs while driving under the influence of drugs and inflicting fatal injuries must stand trial for DUI gross vehicular manslaughter.

Mia Janae Perry of Rialto allegedly caused the death of 55-year-old Jon Sherwood in 2021.

Following a preliminary hearing Friday at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, Riverside County Superior Court Judge James Hawkins found there was sufficient evidence to bound Perry over for trial on the felony count.

The judge scheduled a post-preliminary hearing arraignment for March 19. The defendant remains free on a $35,000 bond.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit filed by the Desert Hot Springs Police Department, the deadly collision occurred at the intersection of Highway 62 and Pierson Boulevard shortly after 10 p.m. on Oct. 21, 2021.

Investigators alleged Perry was driving on Pierson and ignored a stop sign before heading onto Highway 62 - straight into the path of Sherwood, who was traveling by motorcycle at an unconfirmed speed.  

"The driver of the motorcycle was unable to stop or avoid the collision and collided into the driver's side of Perry's vehicle, ejecting himself from the motorcycle and into the northbound lanes," according to the
police declaration.

Witnesses stopped and called 911, and Perry also immediately stopped. Paramedics reached the location a short time later and pronounced the victim dead at the scene.

Perry was not hurt, and was taken to the DHSPD station where she told an officer that she had smoked marijuana about two hours prior to the fatal collision, investigators alleged.

Court papers describe the defendant smoked six hits from a blunt between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m., then left her friend's house because she thought there were no effects from the cannabis and was confident she could operate her vehicle. A blood sample collected by a forensic phlebotomist about five hours after the
collision indicated the presence of cannabinoids in her system, according to police.  

The affidavit says Perry told a patrolman that she also has albinism, causing her to be partially blind in one eye and requiring her to wear prescription eyeglasses. It was unclear whether she had been using them for the drive home that night.

The defendant has no documented prior misdemeanor or felony convictions in Riverside County.