Woman accused of hitting pedestrians strikes plea deal

Kim Smith

Friday, June 15, 2001 | 10:50 a.m.

A Las Vegas woman accused of driving onto a Strip sidewalk in April 2000 and hitting four pedestrians -- one later died -- entered a plea agreement Thursday that will require her to spend five to 20 years in prison.

Juanita Kim McDonald, 25, pleaded guilty to two counts of driving under the influence of a controlled and/or prohibited substance in District Judge Mark Gibbon's courtroom.

She is scheduled to be sentenced July 26.

McDonald had been scheduled to go to trial Monday on four counts of driving under the influence of a prohibited or controlled substance, four counts of reckless driving, one count of involuntary manslaughter and one count of being under the influence of a controlled substance.

According to authorities, McDonald drove onto the sidewalk in front of the Aladdin hotel-casino exactly one month to the day after Jessica Williams, 21, was accused of drifting into a freeway median and striking and killing six teenagers.

In each case, blood tests showed the women -- both exotic dancers -- had drugs in their system.

McDonald's tests showed she had marijuana, methamphetamine and ecstasy in her system and Williams' tests showed she had marijuana and ecstasy in her blood.

While experts and eyewitnesses at Williams' trial testified Williams was not impaired by the drugs, those scheduled to testify at McDonald's trial were expected to testify she was driving while impaired.

Williams was convicted of six counts of driving under the influence of a prohibited substance and is serving 18 to 48 years in prison.

One of the pedestrians McDonald hit, Mike Wienkes, 36, of Mineral Point, Wis., died May 7, 2000, after spending three weeks in a coma.

According to grand jury transcripts, another pedestrian, Alicia Cross, suffered multiple leg fractures and needed surgery to implant a 16-inch rod. Arthur Dewulf, an Army colonel at Fort Benning, Ga., was knocked unconscious in the incident and another man, John Bonham, suffered an injured leg.