MONTEBELLO >> A woman received a 23-year prison sentence Wednesday for her role in an ill-fated armed robbery in Montebello last year that escalated into a gunfight that led to the fatal shooting of her two accomplices and the wounding of a shopkeeper, authorities said.
Toni Danielle Lopez of Los Angeles, who served as the getaway driver in the botched Montebello robbery, pleaded “no contest” in Los Angeles County Superior Court to charges of attempted murder and robbery, Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office spokesman Greg Risling said in a written statement. She also admitted the special allegations that a gun was used in the crimes, and that the crimes were gang-related.
Judge Henry Hall immediately sentenced Lopez to 23 years in state prison, Risling said.
Lopez served as the getaway driver in the double-fatal robbery attempt, which took place just after midnight on July 18, 2015, at a restaurant in the 2100 block of West Whittier Boulevard following a spate of violent crimes.
Fellow robbers Kevin Fierro, 23, of Los Angeles and Roger Soriano, 21, of Los Angeles, entered the restaurant and carried out the robbery, Montebello police Lt. Andy Vuncannon said at the time.
Soriano shot and wounded the shopkeeper, who pulled his own gun and returned fire, police said. Soriano died in the restaurant. Fierro, who was also wounded in the gunfight, tried to flee but collapsed and died about a block away.
Just prior to the Montebello robbery attempt, Lopez, Fierro and Soriano robbed a 17-year-old boy along Whittier Boulevard in East Los Angeles, Risling said.
And prior to that, authorities suspect Fierro and Soriano carjacked the Toyota Camry used in the other crimes in East Los Angeles.
Detectives found and arrested Lopez in connection with the crime at Eugene A. Obregon Park in East Los Angeles three days after the robbery and shootout, Vuncannon said. She was still driving the carjacked Camry.
Prosecutors initially charged Lopez with two counts of murder for the deaths of her accomplices, as well as other crimes. The complaint was later amended to include one count of attempted murder, two counts of robbery and one count of receiving stolen property.