Crime & Safety
Woman Planned Friend's Execution In Car In OC, Jury Says: Report
The conviction comes nearly four years after residents of a Fountain Valley neighborhood found the body of a woman in a still-running car.
FOUNTAIN VALLEY, CA — A woman was found guilty of planning her friend's execution in a car almost four years ago in Fountain Valley, The Orange County Register reported.
The Orange County Superior Court jury found Mary Chavez guilty of special-circumstance murder and conspiracy for the July 19, 2021 killing of Phia Marie Albanese, who was found dead in a still-running VW Jetta at her time of death.
While Chavez did not fire the gun that killed Albanese, the prosecutors alleged that Chavez "ruthlessly and viciously conspired and planned and helped carry out the execution" and "was the one who put the whole thing together," according to the report.
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