by Bill Kisliuk
Pasadena Sun
A woman convicted of killing a man and helping to kidnap a boy from an Altadena home in 2007 was sentenced Wednesday to 49-years-to-life in prison, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office.
Mesha Arnaz Dean, 27, was convicted March 26 of second-degree murder, child abuse and kidnapping. The child’s biological mother, Vanessa Ochoa, 27, previously pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, kidnapping and child abuse. Ochoa was sentenced to 15 years in prison on April 9.
According to prosecutors, on March 16, 2007, the couple drove from Las Vegas to Altadena to take the child, then 4, from his father. When they arrived the child was with his uncle, Monroe Miles Jr, 33. Dean shot Miles and fled to Las Vegas with Ochoa and the child.
