A man accused of stabbing a 14-year-old girl to death two days before Christmas accepted a plea deal Friday morning.
Ezequiel Padilla-Villalobos, 24, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and second-degree kidnapping.
and sexual assault, will be dropped. A trial was scheduled to start next month.
As part of the plea agreement, Padilla-Villalobos will be sentenced to a total of 80 years in prison for the two charges.
According to arrest affidavits, Padilla-Villalobos on Dec. 23 was asked by his girlfriend to pick up her little sister.
Padilla-Villalobos agreed, even though that night.
While driving after picking up the girl, he started thinking about killing, he said.
Padilla-Villalobos told police he parked the truck and leaned over and began strangling the girl. She struggled, and he stabbed her with a kitchen knife that he had used to cut vegetables days before, according to the affidavit.
After the murder, Padilla-Villalobos went to a gas station and called police to turn himself in. He led police to where he had left the girl’s body, on the 8600 block of Verbena Street in Commerce City.
The sexual-assault charges that had been filed against him were dropped. However, as part of the agreement, Padilla-Villalobos will also undergo a sexual-offender evaluation that could determine his placement in prison.
Padilla-Villalobos also was advised that because he is not a U.S. citizen, his immigration status could be affected by the guilty plea and he could be deported if he is released from prison.
He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 12.
Yesenia Robles: 303-954-1372, yrobles@ denverpost.com or twitter.com/yeseniarobles
