A 66-year-old Palm Desert woman already facing second-degree murder and DUI charges for a 2016 crash that fatally injured her passenger was arrested over the weekend on suspicion of misdemeanor DUI following a non-injury wreck in Indian Wells.
Shelley Ann Bunn was at the wheel of a black Nissan SUV that crashed into a parked vehicle at 12:42 a.m. Saturday inside a private parking lot in the 75000 block of Highway 111, according to sheriff’s Sgt. Marcus Abbe. She was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor DUI and released the same day on $3,500 bail, according to county jail records.
In the earlier case, Bunn is facing charges stemming from an Oct. 13, 2016, crash at the Sunrise Country Club in Rancho Mirage. Bunn is accused of crashing into the back of a parked trailer, causing ultimately fatal injuries to John Boyd, who was riding in the front passenger seat. He died 10 days later at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs from “multiple blunt impact injuries,” according to a declaration in support of an arrest warrant.
Bunn, who suffered broken bones, told sheriff’s deputies after the crash that she had consumed about eight beers throughout the day, according to court documents, which state that her blood-alcohol content was measured at .11 — the legal limit is .08.
Bunn was charged with murder because of a previous DUI case on her record. She pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor drunken driving charge in 2007 in a Palm Springs case, and received three years probation, court records show.
Bunn posted $250,000 bail last year and was released from custody. Her next court hearing involving the fatal crash case is Jan. 15, when she’s due in an Indio courtroom for a preliminary hearing, which will determine whether there is enough evidence to bound her over for trial.
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