Man pleads guilty to 2011 Spokane murder

SPOKANE — A 28-year-old man has pleaded guilty to killing a 48-year-old woman in 2011 days after he was released from federal prison on unrelated child sex charges.

The Spokesman-Review reports that Derrick Vargas pleaded guilty Friday in Spokane County Superior Court to murdering Evon Moore. Her body was found in a Spokane alley in August. An autopsy found she was choked and run over by a truck.

Investigators focused on Vargas after another woman claimed she was choked and raped by him in September 2011. Vargas also pleaded guilty on Monday to assault with sexual motivation in that case.

The plea agreement will send Vargas to prison for 24 years for Moore’s death and about six years for the assault case.

He is to be sentenced in June.

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