A plea deal reduced a murder charge to manslaughter for Gerardo Contreras. The I-Team’s Eric Leonard reports for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on Monday, Sep. 9, 2024.
A man who was arrested on suspicion of murdering his one-time girlfriend Elizabeth by allegedly dousing her with a flammable liquid and setting her on fire in front of horrified motorists in North Hollywood was sentenced Monday to 12 years in prison.
Gerardo Contreras, 49, was initially charged with murder for the attack on Aug. 28, 2021, which police and prosecutors said was captured by a security camera on a building nearby, leaving little doubt about what happened.
The LA County District Attorney's Office agreed last month to drop the murder charge in exchange for Contreras' no contest pleas to voluntary manslaughter and the use of a flammable or caustic substance in an assault. A no contest plea has the same legal effect as a guilty plea in criminal court.
Elizabeth was 54 years old, and her family requested she not be more specifically identified because several young relatives did not know the circumstances of her death.
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LA Superior Court Judge Gregory A. Dohi addressed the family members who attended Monday's hearing in Van Nuys.
"I did the preliminary hearing. I saw the video," Dohi said of the recording of the crime. "I hope that you have some degree of closure, if it's at all possible."
LA's homeless most vulnerable to violence
Dohi imposed a sentence of 11 years for the manslaughter charge and one additional year for the use of a flammable substance. Contreras was not given credit for the two years he spent in jail prior to the no contest plea.
Contreras' defense lawyer, Jason Rubel from the Alternate Public Defender, did not immediately return a call for comment on the resolution of the case and the sentence.
According to police, Contreras and Elizabeth, who were both considered homeless, were arguing while driving north of Vineland Avenue near the Burbank Airport on the afternoon of the attack, and at some point he poured the liquid on her.
Their car stopped in the center left turn lane, and the fire started while the two were standing near the trunk of the car.
Elizabeth fell into traffic lanes before running across the road and collapsing on a lawn in front of a shopping center.
Drivers stopped and tried to help her.
She died several days later on Sep. 1 as the result of thermal burns, according to the LA County Medical Examiner.
Her death was among the 91 deaths in 2021 in which people experiencing homelessness were murdered, according to LAPD data.
Those deaths represented nearly 23% of the city's murders that year, which officials said was a staggering number, considering those described as homeless represented less than 1% of the overall population.
The percentage of murders of people considered homeless rose to around 24% in 2022 before dropping to around 17% in 2023, the data shows.
The LAPD has not shared complete data on murders or other crimes in 2024 as it changes its record keeping systems to produce more detailed statistical reports compatible with the FBI's new crime data standards.
