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SALT LAKE CITY — A West Valley woman who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in her uncle's death during a violent robbery has been sentenced to prison.
Bernadette Ramirez, who turned 49 this month, was sentenced May 16 to at least one year and up to 15 years in prison for the death of 63-year-old Steven Louis Valdez. Ramirez pleaded guilty in March to manslaughter, a second-degree felony, reducing the charge from murder, a first-degree felony, as part of a plea deal.
The sentence was ordered to run consecutive to a term of up to 15 years in prison for drug-related charges in another case, according to court documents.
As part of the deal, the remaining charges against Ramirez were dismissed, including aggravated robbery, child kidnapping and two counts of aggravated kidnapping, all first-degree felonies, as well as a second-degree felony charge of obstructing justice.
According to plea documents, Ramirez said she and "one other person" went to the apartment where her uncle was living, and she got into a confrontation with him.
"During that confrontation, the other person recklessly shot my uncle causing his death, and I held a facsimile of a firearm during the confrontation," Ramirez wrote in court documents.
Ramirez was charged in the case alongside two others — Arturo Frias-Gonzales, 26, and Eddie Salazar, 42.
Frias-Gonzales also accepted a plea deal in February, admitting to obstructing justice and tampering with a witness, and was sentenced last month to concurrent terms of one to 15 years in prison.
Salazar was acquitted by a jury last month after his attorney argued at trial a witnesses' changing account of the shooting was unreliable, and that no physical evidence linked his client to the crime.
Related
Woman found with slain uncle's belongings after violent robbery takes plea deal
A West Valley woman accused of joining in a violent robbery that left her uncle dead pleaded guilty Friday to manslaughter.Police initially reported the trio went to Valdez's apartment, 4150 S. Bluejay (4985 West), and shot and beat him. Police found Valdez dead in an upstairs bedroom with a wallet and necklace reportedly stolen from him. He died from a gunshot wound to his leg and blunt force trauma to his head believed to be from a tire iron, according to an autopsy.
Police searched Ramirez's apartment as part of a drug investigation later in 2015, finding watches and a necklace belonging to Valdez, charges state. Later, Ramirez called a detective from Valdez's stolen cellphone.
Ramirez told police she had gotten into an argument with Valdez for stealing her drug customers, and then blacked out, according to charging documents.
