Man admits to killing three in DUI crash amid sand storm in Palm Springs

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) - A 54-year-old man who drove drunk and caused a multi-vehicle crash that killed three people in Palm Springs is slated to be sentenced to state prison next month.

Shawn Michael Kirkpatrick on Tuesday admitted three counts of DUI gross vehicular manslaughter, as well as DUI resulting in great bodily injury and a sentence-enhancing allegation of causing injury or death to multiple victims in a crash, under a plea agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney's Office.  

In exchange for Kirkpatrick's admissions, prosecutors agreed to drop a related charged and sentencing enhancements against him.   

Superior Court Judge Dean Benjamini set a sentencing hearing for April 18 at the Larson Justice Center in Indio.   

The defendant is being held without bail at the Benoit Detention Center.   

In 2023, he fatally injured 32-year-old Yovani Aguilera Tapia, along with David Losacco and Millicent Lewis, both 29.   

According to the Palm Springs Police Department, on the afternoon of Sept. 3, 2023, the drunken defendant was at the wheel of a vehicle going northbound on North Gene Autry Trail, just south of Interstate 10, when a dust storm stirred in the dry wash, lowering visibility along the four-lane corridor, which is not uncommon on windy days.   

Investigators said the victims, occupying one of two vehicles directly ahead of Kirkpatrick's, slowed down as a precaution.   

The police department said in a statement the defendant "failed to decelerate, resulting in a rear-end collision that led to a subsequent impact" with the two cars.  

Lewis, Losacco, and Tapia were in the vehicle that Kirkpatrick slammed into, which caused their car to rear-end the other one, police said.   

Paramedics reached the location a short time later and pronounced the victims dead at the scene. The occupant of the other vehicle, whose identity was not released, suffered moderate injuries, from which the party has since recovered. Kirkpatrick suffered minor injuries, as well.

The ensuing investigation led to his arrest on Nov. 16, 2023.   

He had no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.