Trial for Altadena Murder Scheduled to Start Monday

The murder trial for a woman suspected of murdering an Altadena man in an attempt to help her friend gain custody of her toddler is scheduled to start on Monday.

Mesha Arshaz Dean, now 26,  stands accused of shooting and killing Monroe Miles, 32, after she and Vanessa Marie Ochoa attempted to take Ochoa's child from his father's home in Altadena.  

Monroe Miles, the child's uncle, was chasing after the two women and attempting to stop them by force.  According to Dean's attorney, she plans to argue she shot Miles in self-defense as he was hitting her and trying to impede their escape.

Though Dean's fate is still up in the air, Ochoa has already accepted responsibility for the events of that day.

Though she originally pleaded not guilty, she changed her plea on May 20, 2010, to guilty on all three counts that they have both been charged with: kidnapping, endangering the life of a child, and murder. She will receive 14 years and four months in state prison when she is sentenced March 9, according to court documents.

Dean, though,  is the one who admittedly pulled the trigger that day, though she maintains that she did so out of self-defense. 

The shooting happened as Dean and Ochoa were attempting to flee from the Miles home with the child in their custody.  According to Dean's account of events, Monroe got into the car after chasing Ochoa and the child out of his house and began punching Dean while Ochoa shielded her son with her own body as she climbed into the vehicle.

According to court records, Monroe Miles' brother Mark, Ochoa's son's father, later told police Dean has shot him prior to the attack on his brother, but he refused to tell police who had done it at the time.

Dean and Ochoa were able to flee after the shooting and went to their home in Henderson, Nevada, where they were apprehended by local police.

For more on this case, read .