This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

A woman accused with two others of killing and robbing Steven Louis Valdez at his West Valley City home in 2015 has been sentenced to prison.

Bernadette Josette Ramirez, 49, who had pleaded guilty in 3rd District Court to second-degree felony manslaughter, was sentenced last week to one to 15 years at the Utah State Prison.

Ramirez, along with 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.

Salazar and Frias-Gonzales had already resolved their cases.

In March, Salazar was acquitted by a 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.

It remains unclear who actually kiled Valdez.

Ramirez claimed in plea agreement documents that she and an unnamed "another person" confronted Valdez, who is her uncle, and that the other person "recklessly" shot Valdez. Ramirez claimed that during the confrontation, she held a facsimile of a handgun.

Charging documents state that Valdez was shot in the leg and beaten in an upstairs bedroom of his home at 4150 S. Bluejay St. (4885 West). 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.

Ramirez later told police she was arguing with Valdez over him stealing her drug customers when she "blacked out" as to what else happened, charges state.

Another woman, Valdez's roommate and niece, 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 seeing 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, charges state. The woman said that as she fled downstairs with her infant child, she heard two gunshots.

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.