A parolee who fatally stabbed his wife in the parking lot of a Blythe restaurant, then fled into Arizona before being apprehended, pleaded guilty Thursday to first-degree murder and was immediately sentenced to 30 years to life in state prison.
Troy Elliot Washington, 55, of Ventura County admitted the charge under a plea agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. In exchange for his admission, prosecutors dropped a sentence-enhancing allegation against Washington.
During a hearing at the Larson Justice Center in Indio Thursday, Superior Court Judge Melissa Hale certified the terms of the plea deal and imposed the sentence stipulated by the prosecution and defense.
The defendant killed 43-year-old Diane Washington in the parking lot of a McDonald’s restaurant along Lovekin Boulevard on the night of July 27, 2018.
According to a Blythe Police Department arrest warrant declaration filed immediately after the slaying, Washington informed detectives that he had married the victim while incarcerated, and he had been out of prison for a month when the killing occurred.
The declaration stated the defendant and victim got into “a heated argument in the McDonald’s parking lot,” and he “stabbed Diane to get her to be quiet, but she continued to scream, so he continued to stab her hoping she would stop screaming.”
The nature of the argument was unknown, but the affidavit noted “Washington and the victim were in an unstable relationship.”
She died an hour later at Palo Verde Hospital.
Multiple McDonald’s employees and patrons witnessed the stabbing, and the attack was captured on security surveillance video cameras around the eatery.
When approached by bystanders after the attack, Washington fled in a black 2016 Chrysler 200, which was found parked at a gas station in Ehrenberg, Arizona, the following morning, according to the declaration.
A La Paz County sheriff’s deputy saw Washington, wearing shorts stained with blood, though the rest of his clothes had been changed. He was taken into custody without incident.
Court records show he had a prior conviction for robbery in Los Angeles County.