Woman Pleads Guilty in Deputy’s Slaying

A woman pleaded guilty Thursday to voluntary manslaughter charges in the death of a sheriff’s deputy who was gunned down as he tried to serve a search warrant at a cocaine rock house allegedly run by her.

Dorothy L. Waters, 42, of South-Central Los Angeles, had been charged with murder in the January, 1988, death of Deputy Jack Miller, 33, a 12-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department.

But in a plea bargain with the district attorney’s office, Waters was allowed to plead guilty in Superior Court to the lesser manslaughter count.

She is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 22 to up to 11 years in state prison. Had she been convicted of the murder charge, she could have been sentenced to up to 25 years to life.

Prosecutors said that although Waters’ now-deceased son was the person who actually shot and killed Miller, Waters was charged with his murder because she set up the drug operation, including the purchase of firearms, that led to the fatal shoot-out with sheriff’s deputies.

Waters’ son, Edward Walker, 20, shot and killed himself during that same gun battle.