WHNT
July 2, 2015
An illegal alien charged in the death of his estranged girlfriend entered a guilty plea Monday in a Franklin County court.
The plea ends more than two years of uncertainty for a family who dreaded sitting through an upcoming trial.
Escorted by jailers, Angel Nava entered the courthouse Monday after weeks of negotiations between prosecutors and defense attorneys. District Attorney Joey Rushing said it was the family of Lesley Hope Plott who asked for some resolution in the case.
“Out of all the murders I have handled here, this one as far as the evidence and the gruesomeness of it is the worst,” Rushing said.
In February of 2013, prosecutors said surveillance cameras recorded the murder which took place along north Jackson Avenue. Investigators in the case said Nava punched, stabbed and cut Lesley Plott to death. The two had been in a relationship for more than 10 years, but were estranged at the time of the murder.
According to investigators, Plott was giving Nava a ride home at the time of the attack.
“We talked with the victim’s family, and we discussed all the options and the potential for what could happen if we went to trial,” Rushing explained. “They decided that murder and a life sentence would be an offer they would be satisfied with.”