A woman was sentenced to five years in prison for her role as the driver during a deadly shooting outside a bar in El Paso’s far East Side four years ago, court records show.
Rachel Ramona Rivota was accused of driving the car used by Alexander Diaz, who last year pleaded guilty to murder in the shooting death of Christopher Ryan Correa, 35, outside the 10-4 Oyster Pub on Sept. 18, 2022.
Rivota had been scheduled to go to trial on a murder charge in early March. But the trial was canceled after she pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on Jan. 29 in the 171st District Court, according to court records.
More: El Paso police, fire academy enters design phase, set to open in 2029
After part of the plea, Judge Bonnie Rangel sentenced Rivota to five years in prison on the aggravated assault. Rivota will receive credit for about five months (153 days) spent in jail awaiting trial, court records show.
An El Paso County Jail log shows Rivota remains incarcerated at the El Paso County Jail Annex as of Monday, March 16, pending transfer to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
The shooter, Diaz, now 29, was sentenced to 50 years in prison and is incarcerated at the Clements state prison in Amarillo with a projected release date in 2072, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. He is not eligible for parole until 2047.
Deadly shooting outside El Paso oyster pub
The shooting occurred about 2:20 a.m. on Sept. 18, 2022, outside the 10-4 Oyster Pub, 12275 Pellicano Drive near Americas High School, the El Paso Police Department said.
Christopher Ryan Correa, 35, who was killed in a shooting outside the 10-4 Oyster Pub on Pellicano Drive in the far East Side of El Paso, Texas, on Sept. 18, 2022, is seen on GoFundMe page created days after his death in 2022.
Crime: Driver accused of trying to run down people at El Paso park
The El Paso District Attorney’s Office said that security cameras filmed Diaz walking away before returning and getting out of the passenger seat of a car, walking up to Correa and shooting him multiple times with a rifle.
Diaz then walked back to the car, put the rifle in the trunk, and returned to pick up shell casings off the ground before driving away, according to the prosecution’s description of the video.
Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com and @BorundaDaniel on X.
Vintage El Paso: 1986 in photos
1 of 23
March 23, 1986: Thom Kennedy and Daniel Rivera steady a 37,000 pound trolley as a military flatbed truck rolls into position for loading. Members of the El Paso Historic Streetcar Preservation Society, Jordan & Nobles Construction Co. and Fort Bliss soldiers joined Saturday to move nine trolleys from storage at the city’s trolley barn to a parking lot at Sixth and Oregon in South El Paso. The society plans to renovate the streetcars and put one back in operation on tracks on El Paso Street.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso woman gets prison in deadly bar shooting