Investigators: Porterville woman had .19 BAC at time of deadly DUI crash

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Ten days after the crash, a mangled fence still hasn't been fixed.

Various car parts still litter the ground beneath it.

But Porterville Police say one woman's decision to drink and drive resulted in more than damage to property.

On the night of Friday, January 10th, officers say 28-year-old Rebecca Inman missed a stop sign on Gibbons Avenue and hit a Mercedes going north on Main Street.

Everyone, including Inman and her passenger, were hurt.

But the passenger in the Mercedes, identified as 69-year-old Maria Herrera, was the worst off.

She was eventually brought to a Bay Area hospital, where she died last week.

The night of the crash, investigators suspected Inman was drunk, but last Wednesday, they confirmed her blood alcohol content was .19 percent, or more than twice the legal limit.

Police arrested her that day.

"That was one of the determining factors in placing her into custody and the subsequent charges," said Porterville Police Lt. Richard Standridge.

On Friday, the Tulare County District Attorney's Office charged Inman with four felonies, including murder, gross vehicular manslaughter, and two counts of DUI causing injury.

"It was avoidable," Standridge said. "One hundred percent avoidable. And the reason I say that is because drunk driving is avoidable. We live in a time where we have Uber, we have Lift. There are many means for folks to get around when they've had too much to drink."

Inman shows no criminal history in Tulare County prior to this arrest.

She's being held at the Bob Wiley Detention Center.