Countywide : Woman Pleads Not Guilty in Slaying

A Santa Paula woman pleaded not guilty Thursday to the murder of automobile dealer Tony Bridges last month.

Veronica O. Lira, 26, entered the plea in Ventura County Municipal Court, about two weeks after she was arrested in the slaying of the 45-year-old Santa Paula car dealer. She also denied a special allegation that the slaying was committed during a robbery.

Deputy Dist. Atty. James D. Ellison has said Lira knew Bridges, robbed him of more than $300 in cash and jewelry, and shot him with his own .22-caliber derringer. His body was found in an El Rio field on Dec. 26, and his car was found days later in an Oxnard neighborhood known for drug trafficking.

Investigators have said Bridges had a history of cocaine use and had traces of the drug in his system when he was killed.

On Thursday, Ellison said he could add little new information. “We don’t expect any other arrests imminently,” he said. At the request of her attorney, Deputy Public Defender Richard Holly, Lira gave up her right to a speedy preliminary hearing and agreed to schedule it for March 19. Municipal Judge Barry B. Klopfer ordered that Lira continue to be held without bail.