Man who drove into oncoming traffic is convicted of girlfriend's murder
A jury on Nov. 3 found a man guilty of second-degree murder in the death of his 36-year-old girlfriend, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.
Jeffrey Minifie, a 43-year-old white man, was also convicted of kidnapping and evading an officer causing great bodily injury, according to prosecutors.
Shortly after 8 a.m. on Feb. 16, 2012, Minifie forced Lilian Janeth Pleitez Duarte, his girlfriend at the time and a mother of three children, into his GMC Yukon and drove away.
He later saw an LAPD patrol car and veered into oncoming traffic as police followed, prosecutors said. His SUV collided head-on with another vehicle in the 2400 block of West 6th Street in the Westlake neighborhood, killing Duarte.
Minifie is scheduled to return to court Jan. 13 for sentencing. He could face 30 years to life in prison.
Contact the Homicide Report. And follow @latimeshomicide on Twitter.
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