Convicted killer from Texas pleads not guilty in Riverside County cold case murder
Jesus Reyes
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) – A retired cross-country truck driver previously convicted of murder in Texas pleaded not guilty to charges in the 1992 murder of a woman found dead in Desert Center.
Douglas Thomas pleaded not guilty to charges in the murder of Sherri Herrera, 30, of Tulare, California. He is scheduled to return to court for a felony settlement conference on Dec. 3.
Thomas worked as a truck driver for more than 40 years and traveled extensively across the United States.
Douglas Thomas
Herrera, a mother of four, was found dead on March 30, 1993, on the eastbound Hayfield Road on-ramp to I-10 in Desert Center.
Sherri Herrera
The case went cold for nearly 30 years until a breakthrough in 2022.
In May 2022, Thomas was arrested by Texas Rangers after DNA evidence linked him to the April 1992 murder of a woman in Titus County, Texas. He was later convicted in that case and sentenced to 40 years to life in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
According to the DA’s office, Thomas’s DNA also matched evidence recovered in the Herrera investigation. Detectives with the Riverside County Regional Cold Case Homicide Team traveled to Texas to interview Thomas about Herrera’s murder.
Following their investigation, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office charged Thomas with the 1993 murder of Herrera. Prosecutors also filed a special circumstance allegation of murder during the commission of a rape.
Although Thomas is serving his Texas sentence, the Riverside County DA’s Office initiated the Interstate Agreement on Detainers process with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The agency said the legal process allows California authorities to take custody of Thomas despite his Texas incarceration, ensuring he will face justice in Riverside County.