A Los Angeles man previously convicted of ramming an SUV into a Boyle Heights home, killing his girlfriend and trying to kill six members of her family, pleaded no contest Friday to second-degree murder for his newborn daughter’s death in the same 2010 crash.
Eduardo Villareal, 27, entered his plea a day after a jury was chosen to hear the case against him involving the death of his daughter, Naomi, according to Deputy District Attorney Colby Cano. Jurors had been set to hear opening statements Monday.
Villareal is facing 43 years to life in state prison, with sentencing set for July 22, according to Cano.
Villareal was tried separately in 2014 and convicted of first-degree murder in the death of his 19-year-old girlfriend, Zurisaday Bonilla, and the attempted murders of her parents, three siblings and her 3-year-old child. A mistrial had been declared on the murder charge involving his daughter before jurors heard opening statements in that trial.
Villareal slammed his Cadillac Escalade into the family’s home shortly before midnight on Oct. 31, 2010, about 20 minutes after an argument with his girlfriend.
Villareal’s girlfriend suffered a broken neck and a severed brain stem, and one of her siblings — a younger sister — suffered a broken jaw and memory loss.
–City News Service