LAS VEGAS (AP) - A Las Vegas woman has pleaded guilty to a murder charge and is expected to face 10-to-25 years in state prison for killing a nail salon manager with a vehicle while trying to skip out on a $35 manicure nearly two years ago.
Krystal Whipple’s attorney, Timothy Treffinger, didn’t immediately respond Monday to a message about the plea Whipple entered Friday.
Whipple, 23, admitted killing Nhu “Annie” Ngoc Nguyen, a 51-year-old mother of three from Garden Grove, California, in December 2018.
Whipple’s plea avoided trial on felony murder, burglary, robbery and stolen vehicle charges. She is due for sentencing Feb. 5 before Clark County District Court Judge Tierra Jones.
Prosecutor Michael Schwartzer said Monday he consulted with Nguyen’s family about the plea, and hoped they would find closure with the agreement.
Police said Whipple tried to pay for her manicure with a fraudulent credit card before telling Nguyen that she was going to her car to get cash.
Nguyen and her boyfriend followed Whipple into the parking lot, where Nguyen was struck and dragged by a black Chevrolet Camaro driven by Whipple. Police later said the car had been stolen from a rental agency.
Authorities said Whipple fled to Boulder City and then Los Angeles before surrendering to police in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona, almost two weeks after Nguyen’s death.
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