Menifee Man Facing Charges for Crash that Killed Temecula Woman

A Menifee man has been charged with vehicular manslaughter and hit and run in a May 6 car accident in Temecula that left a woman dead.

The misdemeanors were filed against Travis Hughes Braswell, 63, on Oct. 9—six months after the three-vehicle crash on Rancho California Road at Town Center that killed 27-year-old Sharina Thomason of Temecula—court records show.

The day of the crash, police said Braswell was driving a full-size pickup westbound on Rancho California when he ran a red light, hitting Thomason, who was exiting the shopping center in a Pontiac sedan. Thomason’s car in turn spun out and hit a Saturn, injuring that driver, while Braswell’s truck came to rest in the eastbound lanes of Rancho California, police said.

Braswell then allegedly drove away from the crash scene.

Temecula police spotted his truck parked not far away in the Town Center shopping center.

He was booked that day on suspicion of vehicular homicide and hit and run, but released on $75,000 bond.

Court records show Braswell was recently notified of the misdemeanor charges via a letter from the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.

Investigators stated that Braswell told them he suffers from epilepsy and did not remember the crash, The Press-Enterprise reported.

He is scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 14 at Southwest Justice Center near Murrieta.