LOS ANGELES, Oct. 8 -- A murder charge was filed Tuesday against a lawyer accused of plotting to kill her husband, a veteran deputy city attorney. The new charge was filed against Nicole Anne Garza, 32, after her sister, Lynette LaFontaine-Trujillo, 34, died Monday of gunshot wounds she suffered when she exchanged shots with Deputy City Attorney Jose Garza, 50, when he went into his garage Sept. 25 to investigate a noise.
Trujillo died at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, where she had been in critical condition since being shot. Prosecutors said Jose Garza heard a noise and, armed with a pistol, went to investigate. An intruder in a hooded sweatshirt opened fire but missed. Garza returned the fire. Garza was reportedly shocked when he learned sometime later that the intruder he had shot was his sister-in-law. Nicole Garza was arrested two days after the shooting after police turned up evidence of what they said was a plot to kill the veteran city prosecutor. Under California law, a person can be charged with murder if her alleged accomplice is killed during commission of the crime. Garza, who remains jailed under $1 million bail, is also charged with conspiracy to commit murder.
