Woman Pleads Guilty to Robbery in Slaying

HOLLYWOOD —  A 23-year-old woman has pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery in connection with her role in the shooting death of a cab driver in Hollywood last year, authorities said.

Mabelin Esther Torres entered the guilty plea Wednesday in connection with the slaying of Gerardo Torres Jimenez on June 21, 1999, Dist. Atty. spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said Thursday. Police described Torres as the getaway driver.

Torres will be sentenced Nov. 7 and is expected to receive a prison term of slightly more than 22 years and four months.

Earlier this month, Adriana Uribe, 22, pleaded guilty to seven criminal counts, including first-degree murder. She was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Jimenez, 26, an independent taxi driver, had been headed through Hollywood at about 12:45 a.m. when a car began following his cab. He tried to escape and hit some parked cars before Uribe got out and shot him in the head, police said.

Uribe was arrested last year at the San Ysidro border crossing when a federal agent recognized her from a wanted bulletin. Torres was arrested in September 1999 on suspicion of possessing marijuana when she tried to enter the country at the border crossing in Otay Mesa, near San Diego.

A third suspect, Crystal Dawn Vigil, 20, fled after the attack on Jimenez. There is an outstanding warrant for her arrest.