A woman who fatally shot a male acquaintance at the victim’s Alpine-area home pleaded guilty Friday to a voluntary manslaughter charge.
Angela Marie Meza, 49, is slated to be sentenced next month for the May 2017 killing of 42-year-old Lorenzo Rodriguez, whose death was initially reported as a possible suicide.
Meza was set to go to trial on a murder charge early next month in connection with Rodriguez’s death, but pleaded guilty Friday morning to voluntary manslaughter, as well as allegations of using a firearm, having a prior strike and having a serious prior felony conviction.
Prosecutors have not disclosed a motive for the killing, nor the nature of the suspect’s relationship to the victim.
Deputies were dispatched to investigate the fatality in a back-country area just west of Viejas Casino shortly after 6:30 p.m. and found Rodriguez dead from a gunshot wound to his upper body, according to San Diego Sheriff’s Department officials.
Meza was one of several people at the victim’s home on Viejas Grade Road when authorities arrived.
— City News Service
