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A 23-year-old Utah woman pleaded guilty as charged to murder on Thursday, admitting that she stabbed her girlfriend to death last year while the two were driving on the freeway in Weber County.
Victoria Ashley Mendoza was charged in Ogden's 2nd District Court with first-degree felony murder in the stabbing of 21-year-old Tawnee Marie Baird on Oct. 18, 2014.
She pleaded guilty to the charge on Thursday, according to her attorney, Michael Studebaker.
"[She] was just like, 'You know, I just want to plead guilty,' " Studebaker said. "She wanted to put an end to it and put the family at peace."
Studebaker said he had advised her not to plead guilty, as they had been fighting over expert funding issues in federal court. He also said the plea wasn't beneficial for her, because "she didn't get anything out of it," as she would have if the case had resolved in a plea deal.
"Throughout the process, I've talked her out of it every other time," Studebaker said. "She wouldn't budge this time. It is what it is, and I represent my client's desires."
She faces a 16-years-to-life prison sentence when she is sentenced Nov. 10 by Judge Joseph Bean.
Weber County Attorney Christopher Allred said Friday that Mendoza's plea "came a little sooner than we had expected," but said he felt their case was strong against her, and they didn't plan on settling the case with reduced charges.
"We were planning to go forward to trial," Allred said. "We didn't plan to offer anything in terms of negotiation in this case. Turns out Ms. Mendoza just wanted to plead as charged and get moving forward."
Prosecutors say that on Oct. 18, 2014, Mendoza and Baird got into an argument while driving on Interstate 15, and Baird slapped Mendoza and pulled her hair. The defendant "became enraged and snapped," Allred has said.
Mendoza then allegedly stabbed her girlfriend 46 times, according to prosecutors.
The defendant's sister, Cindy Spencer, testified at a February preliminary hearing that Baird and Mendoza were jealous and controlling of one another. They got into fights that escalated into hitting, kicking and punching, the sister said.
The night that Baird was stabbed to death, Mendoza called her sister and said she had hurt her girlfriend and asked Spencer to come to the parking lot of the Ogden church they had attended growing up. Spencer testified that when she arrived, she found Baird dead in the car's passenger seat, covered in blood.
Twitter: @jm_miller