Truck driver convicted in Texas murder to face prosecution in California 1993 cold case death of mom

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, Calif. (TCN) — A 71-year-old retired truck driver convicted of killing a woman in Texas over three decades ago recently pleaded not guilty in a separate cold case death out of California.

According to the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, Douglas Thomas pleaded not guilty on Sept. 10 to the 1993 murder of 30-year-old Sherri Herrera, a mother of four. He is set for a felony settlement conference on Dec. 3.

Herrera’s remains were first discovered on March 30, 1993. She was last seen alive a few days before her body was found.

Texas Rangers arrested Thomas, who reportedly worked as a truck driver and traveled across the United States, in May 2022 after DNA evidence linked him to the April 1992 death of a woman in Texas. He was convicted in that case and received 40 years to life in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

According to the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, his DNA also matched evidence from Herrera’s death, and investigators traveled to Texas to interview him. Riverside County prosecutors charged Thomas with murder in connection with Herrera’s death and filed a special circumstance allegation of murder during the commission of a rape.

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