GATESVILLE, Texas — A Gatesville woman has pleaded guilty to the 2022 murder of Waco resident Elizabeth Romero.
According to Dustin H. Boyd, 52nd Judicial District Attorney in Coryell County, Jessica Colleen Robinson entered a guilty plea on Jan. 10, 2024, to the crime of murder, a first-degree felony.
Robinson was reportedly sentenced to 47 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
According to the Coryell County Sheriff's Office, Romero was reported missing by her family on April 8, 2022. The Office said they received a tip in May 2022 that Romero had been killed and her body dumped off a bridge by a "blue pickup truck".
The Sheriff's Office stated Jessica Robinson was arrested on May 19, 2022, on a theft charge in which she was accused of stealing lumber that March. An affidavit stated Romero was also involved in the theft, and that a truck owned by Robinson's mother, Betsy Robinson, was used in the theft.
When questioned by investigators, Betsy Robinson allegedly told them Jessica Robinson had shot Romero at Betsy Robinson's home.
According to the affidavit, another woman named Erin Bailey Finchum was also interviewed by investigators. Finchum reportedly told investigators she was there when Robinson shot Romero.
Betsy Robinson told investigators that Jessica Robinson and Finchum believed Romero owed them money for the sale of the stolen lumber, according to the affidavit.
The Coryell County Sheriff's Office said they arrested Jessica Robinson, Betsy Robinson, Erin Finchum and a man named Cody Ayers for their involvement in Romero's death. Ayers is accused of tampering with evidence in the case for allegedly disposing of the couch where Romero was allegedly shot.
Romero's family was in the courtroom on Jan. 10 for the plea, sentencing and allocations, according to the District Attorney's Office.
The cases involving the other three suspects are reportedly still pending.
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