Mendocino Coast man pleads guilty to murdering his ex-girlfriend

Andrew Crowningshield admitted he used a handgun to shoot and kill the mother of his young child after she pulled over Feb. 4 along southbound Highway 1.|
J.D. MORRIS
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

A Mendocino Coast man has pleaded guilty to murdering his former girlfriend two months ago at Highway 1 pullout, the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office announced Friday.

Andrew Crowningshield, 27, of Little River changed his plea to guilty Friday, avoiding a preliminary hearing involving the February death of Autumn Smith, 22, of Fort Bragg, the District Attorney’s Office said.

Crowningshield admitted he intentionally used a 9 mm handgun to shoot and kill Smith, the mother of his young child, after she pulled over Feb. 4 along Highway 1 near Little River.

Crowningshield agreed to serve 50 years to life in state prison for first-degree murder and intentionally using a firearm to in the slaying, the office said. Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Cindee Mayfield accepted Crowningshield’s change of plea Friday and will formally sentence him June 7 at 9 a.m. at the Ukiah courthouse.

You can reach Staff Writer J.D. Morris at 707-521-5337 or jd.morris@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter ?@thejdmorris.

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