Trial Begins for DUI Driver Accused of Killing 86-Year-Old Menifee Woman

Jury selection will get underway Thursday in the murder trial of a convicted DUI offender accused of killing an 86-year-old Menifee woman while racing through an intersection drunk at the wheel of her SUV.

Melissa Danae Dean-Baumann, 39, of Fallbrook could face 20 years to life in prison if convicted in the 2012 death of Phyllis Fleming.

Dean-Baumann is charged with second-degree murder, DUI gross vehicular manslaughter, child endangerment, DUI with injuries, and sentence-enhancing allegations of inflicting great bodily injury on a person over 70 years old. She’s free on a $500,000 bond.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Prevost is planning to summon more than 80 prospective jurors to the Riverside Hall of Justice for screening as to their availability and qualifications.

Opening statements in the trial are expected next week.

According to the District Attorney’s Office, Dean-Baumann had a blood- alcohol level of .16 -- double the legal limit to drive -- when her 2006 Chevrolet Tahoe slammed into the 2003 Saturn sedan occupied by the victim and her husband, 82-year-old Donald Fleming, on the afternoon of Dec. 13, 2012.

Dean-Baumann was going around 60 mph as she headed into the intersection of McCall Boulevard and Encanto Drive in Menifee, according to a trial brief filed by Deputy District Attorney Kevin Beecham.

He said the defendant was traveling westbound on McCall at nearly twice the posted speed limit and apparently became distracted by her 3-year-old daughter in the backseat, failing to notice the light ahead of her change to red.

As Donald Fleming initiated a left turn on a green arrow to go north on Encanto, Dean-Baumann came barreling into the intersection, crashing into the passenger side of the smaller vehicle, where Phyllis Fleming was seated, according to Beecham.

Fleming suffered catastrophic injuries and died at the scene. Her husband was seriously injured and hospitalized but survived. Neither Dean- Baumann or her child were injured.

The prosecution alleges that, in addition to alcohol, toxicology tests showed the defendant had methamphetamine and marijuana in her system.

Dean-Baumann has a misdemeanor DUI conviction from 2003. Officials say she was required to attend anti-DUI education classes as part of her sentence .

According to a trial brief, Dean-Baumann repeatedly drove while intoxicated after her first conviction. The defendant’s former boyfriend told investigators that, three months before the fatal crash, he had gotten into a confrontation with her when she tried to drive away with their child while under the influence, the brief stated.

— By City News Service.