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The last of three people accused of killing and robbing Steven Louis Valdez at a West Valley City home in 2015 has resolved her case — yet it remains unclear who shot Steven Louis Valdez.
Bernadette Josette Ramirez, 48; Arturo Frias-Gonzales, 26; and Eddie Salazar, 42, were each charged with first-degree-felony counts of murder, aggravated robbery and aggravated kidnapping, as well as other counts, in connection with the July 25, 2015, shooting death of Valdez.
On Friday, Ramirez pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree felony manslaughter, claiming in court documents that she and an unnamed "another person" confronted Valdez, and that the other person "recklessly" shot Valdez.
Ramirez claims that during the confrontation she held a facsimile of a handgun.
She faces up to 15 years in prison when she is sentenced May 16.
Frias-Gonzales and Salazar had previously resolved their cases.
Last month, Salazar was acquitted by a 3rd District Court jury of all charges. Salazar's defense attorney has said that the prosecution's key witness came off as unbelievable after telling inconsistent stories, and that there was no physical evidence linking Salazar to the crime scene.
Earlier this year, Frias-Gonzales pleaded guilty to second-degree felony counts of obstructing justice and witness tampering, and was sentenced to one to 15 years in prison.
"Only the people present at the time of the shooting know for sure who fired the fatal shot, and one of them is deceased," said Deputy Salt Lake County District Attorney Blake Hills on Wednesday.
Charging documents state that Ramirez, Frias-Gonzales and Salazar were in the upstairs bedroom of the home where Valdez was staying, at 4150 S. Bluejay Street (4885 West), when the victim was shot in the leg and beaten.
Ramirez later told police she was arguing with Valdez, who is her uncle, over him stealing her drug customers when she "blacked out" as to what else happened, charges state.
Items including a cellphone, a necklace and watches were taken from the home. The phone and necklace were later found by police at Ramirez's home, and a number of the watches were found at Frias-Gonzales' home.
Another woman, Valdez's roommate, was a key witness in the case. She gave varying accounts of the evening to police, according to charging documents.
She first said there had been a home-invasion robbery by a gang of masked men — a story she later said the three defendants had told her to tell. Then, she gave a version that implicated the trio.
That account included hearing several gunshots and then going upstairs to find the three defendants in the bedroom with a bloodied Valdez — Ramirez holding a silver handgun, Frias-Gonzales holding a black handgun and Salazar holding a tire iron, according to charging documents and the woman's court testimony.
The woman said that as she ran downstairs with her infant child, she heard another one or two gunshots, which she believed were fired at her.
An autopsy showed Valdez died from a gunshot to the leg and blunt force trauma to the head, in a pattern consistent with a tire iron, charges state.