A woman who police say confessed to arming her 12-year-old nephew before he fatally shot a Sonic employee in 2023 pleaded guilty Friday to murder and has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Ashley Marmolejo Gomez was in court Friday for a pretrial hearing. A grand jury indicted Marmolejo on a murder charge earlier this year after police said she handed her nephew a weapon and said, "go," directing him to defend his uncle, who was involved in a fight outside the restaurant.

Marmolejo agreed to a plea deal in the case and was sentenced to 25 years in state prison.

She was charged with murder as a party to the offense, rather than the principal actor and was found guilty based on providing the juvenile with the firearm and instructing them to proceed.

This is justice that we've been

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