A Coachella woman who helped a murder suspect avoid arrest pleaded guilty Thursday to being an accessory after the fact and was immediately sentenced to 18 months of mandatory supervision in lieu of jail.
Martha Perez Espinoza, 40, assisted Ruben Corria Esquivel Jr., 31, of Coachella, at some point after the convicted felon allegedly gunned down 42-year-old Vincent Aispuro on Feb. 21 near Indio, although the exact nature of her role or their relationship was not disclosed.
It was not immediately clear if she agreed to testify against Esquivel as part of the plea deal.
Espinoza was arrested on July 30 at a probation office in Indio. At the time of her arrest, she was the subject of a warrant for allegedly violating her three-year probation term on a felony identity theft conviction.
According to Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Richard Carroll, deputies responded about midnight Feb. 21 to a call reporting an assault with a deadly weapon in the 47600 block of Van Buren Street in an unincorporated area near Indio and found Aispuro wounded. He died at a nearby hospital.
Homicide investigators took over the case, and through unspecified leads eventually identified Esquivel as the suspect. He was tracked down to a home in the 88000 block of Avenue 70 near Mecca on July 24, where he holed up for several hours before surrendering.
A motive for the killing has not been disclosed.
Esquivel previously pleaded not guilty to one count each of murder and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. He is also facing a sentence-enhancing allegation of discharging a firearm causing great bodily injury.
He has documented felony convictions in Riverside County that include attempted carjacking and three parole violations, court records show. He was also convicted in 2012 of a misdemeanor for participating in a criminal street gang.
Esquivel, who is being held in lieu of $1 million bail, is scheduled to return to court on Sept. 11 for a felony settlement conference.