Man pleads guilty to deadly Palm Springs DUI crash

A felon pleaded guilty today to DUI gross vehicular manslaughter for driving drunk and causing a crash that killed his passenger in Palm Springs.

Joshua Lamar Woods, 30, of Desert Hot Springs, was arrested April 19 shortly after the vehicle he was driving struck a steel pole on Indian Canyon Drive near Garnet Avenue, according to the Palm Springs Police Department.

His passenger, 30-year-old Laprea Hardister of Desert Hot Springs, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Woods initially faced charges of DUI gross vehicular manslaughter, DUI causing bodily injury and DUI with a blood-alcohol content exceeding the legal limit of .08% causing bodily injury.

During a preliminary hearing at the Larson Justice Center on Tuesday, Woods admitted to the felony count of DUI gross vehicular manslaughter as part of a plea deal with the Riverside County District Attorney's Office to have the
other charges dropped.

He was sentenced by Riverside County Superior Court Judge Burke Strunsky to eight years in state prison on the admitted charge.

He has a prior felony conviction in Riverside County for assault on a person causing great bodily injury.