A Richmond woman pleaded guilty today to robbing and shooting to death Virginia Commonwealth University student Tyler J. Binsted, three days before she was to be tried for the crimes.

In a hearing in Richmond Circuit Court this morning, Zsabriela Evelyn Williams entered guilty pleas to six of the charges she faced. In exchange, prosecutors dropped single counts of carjacking and using a firearm in a felony.

Williams, 20, of Richmond entered an Alford plea for one count of murder, meaning she did not admit guilt but acknowledged that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict her. Williams pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery and three of using a firearm in a felony.She had been scheduled for a trial this Friday.

Judge Beverly W. Snukals scheduled sentencing for Nov. 17, when Williams will face up to three life terms in prison.

Williams became the second of three defendants in the case to plead guilty.

Howard R. Scott III, 17, of South Richmond was to have been tried Aug. 16 on six felony charges, including one count of murder, but he entered Alford pleas to all six counts and was convicted. He faces three life terms at his Nov. 17 sentencing.

Supervising Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Elizabeth A. Hobbs, the prosecutor, said Williams and Scott confronted Binsted and his girlfriend in Byrd Park on March 27, took their cell phones and the girlfriend's car keys, and ordered them to climb into the trunk of her sedan. But Binsted refused, slammed the trunk shut and began walking away, holding hands with his girlfriend.

Hobbs said Scott instructed Williams to let the victims go, but Williams fired a shot that struck Binsted in the back. Binsted, 19, of Mount Jackson in Shenandoah County, fell to the ground and died in a small grass field between a baseball diamond and several tennis courts.

The car belonging to Binsted's girlfriend was found several blocks from Scott's house, demolished and burned.

The lone remaining defendant, LaPrecious Nicole Austin, 19, of Richmond, the alleged driver of the getaway car, faces a single count of conspiracy to commit robbery. Her case is pending.

-- Joe Macenka