A 27-year-old man, Ricardo Mendoza plead guilty Thursday to a charge of first degree murder in the beating death of his ex-girlfriend at a Yakima apartment on in January of 2016. Yakima Police spokesman Mike Bastinelli says they're thankful a neighbor of the victim, 24-year-old Marcellina Briones confronted the suspect with a pellet gun on the night of the killing. "He was able to identify the guy which lead us to the suspect and we were able to arrest him that same day." The suspect threw a bat at the neighbor and ran off. He was arrested a short time after the incident. He's held in the county jail Today.
Police say it was a brutal murder committed with an aluminum baseball bat. Mendoza is expected to face 26-years in prison when he is sentenced on February 24.

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