Man Pleads Guilty to Strangling Ex-Girlfriend

A man pleaded guilty today to killing his ex-girlfriend in a move that let him dodge the death penalty.

Gustavo Santiago Valencia Miranda, 24, was charged with first-degree murder and admitted to special circumstance allegations of lying in wait. Judge Albert Wojcik immediately sentenced Miranda to life in prison without parole.

The body of the victim, Maria Ines Lopez, 21, was found strangled, tied up in yellow rope and buried under three feet of soil in a dry creek bed near Avenida de Missiones and Highway 79.

The murder happened in October 2005. Lopez broke up with Miranda a few months before and was living with her parents in Long Beach. She was almost done getting a degree from California State University, Dominguez Hills.

The day of the murder, the ex-boyfriend asked Lopez to meet him, and they took a walk along the creek bed. During the walk, Miranda attacked the victim, tied her hands behind her back and strangled her with yellow rope, according to prosecutors. Investigators found the body two days later.

Miranda originally pleaded not guilty, but he changed his plea after the District Attorney’s office agreed to drop its pursuit of capital punishment in exchange for his cooperation.