A Santa Barbara County man has pled guilty to killing his ex-girlfriend, and is expected to receive a 25-years-to-life prison sentence.
Prosecutors say Jorge Tovar Fernandez was involved in a custody dispute with Elyse Marie Erwin over their daughter. They say in April of 2017, Fernandez ambushed Erwin outside of a friend’s home in Santa Maria. The 28-year-old woman died after being shot in the head.
Prosecutors called this the worst kind of domestic violence, noting the two had been separated years before the killing occurred.
Fernandez will be sentenced in February.
