PERRIS, CA — A San Jacinto woman accused of killing a 7-year-old girl and injuring members of her family in a driving under the influence collision at a Perris intersection pleaded not guilty Monday to second-degree murder and other charges.
Silvia Corona, 52, was arrested — for the second time — on Thursday after an amended criminal complaint was filed charging her with murder, based on findings from a Riverside County Sheriff's Department investigation into the crash that occurred Aug. 15.
Corona is additionally charged with four counts of DUI resulting in great bodily injury.
She was arraigned Monday before Superior Court Judge Gary Polk, who scheduled a felony settlement conference for Oct. 26 at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
Corona is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Smith Correctional Facility.
The defendant was previously charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, and her bail had been set at $250,000, which she posted early last week. After prosecutors received further undisclosed information from detectives, the manslaughter count was supplanted with the murder charge.
The defendant was re-arrested Thursday and booked back into the Banning jail.
According to a sheriff's bail-setting affidavit, at 5:35 p.m. Aug. 15, Corona was driving her 2017 Lexus RX350 southbound on the Ramona Expressway "at an unsafe speed" that left virtually no possibility for her to stop when the traffic light at the Expressway and Rider Street changed.
"Corona proceeded into the intersection on a red signal and broadsided a 2018 Lexus that was making a lawful left turn from Rider," the declaration said. "Corona had made no attempt to stop prior to the collision and had been traveling at such a high rate of speed, it took her vehicle 326 feet to stop after the collision while driving uphill and out of control."
The sedan allegedly hit by the defendant's vehicle was occupied by a family of five.
The 7-year-old girl in the rear, identified in court documents only as "C.L.," was taken with her siblings and parents to Riverside University Medical Center, where she died that evening.
Her 12-year-old brother, whose identity was not disclosed, suffered significant injuries that prompted his transfer from the Moreno Valley hospital to Loma Linda Children's Hospital for acute care. He remained in critical condition.
The other child, also not identified, suffered moderate injuries and is recovering. The parents, whose names were not released, suffered minor injuries and were not hospitalized.
"Corona was uncooperative at the scene and initially stated that she had not been drinking alcoholic beverages," the affidavit said. "She had objective symptoms of intoxication, and there were cans of Truly, an alcoholic beverage, on the ground, just outside her vehicle."
She and her passenger, a man who was not identified, were treated for unspecified minor to moderate injuries at the county medical center.
"An intake blood sample ... showed Corona had 0.28% blood-alcohol concentration," according to the sheriff's statement. The legal limit to drive is 0.08%.
Corona has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.
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