Valdez man changes plea in fatal hit-and-run crash

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A Valdez man has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and driving under the influence in a 2018 hit-and-run crash.

KTUU-television reports 47-year-old Ero Walli changed his plea Tuesday in an Anchorage courtroom in the death of 31-year-old Chellsie Hoffman.

Hoffman at 2:30 a.m. April 8, 2018, was outside The Boardroom bar in Valdez, waiting for friends to come outside.

Witnesses said a fast-moving pickup drove onto the sidewalk, struck Hoffman and stopped. A friend of Hoffman said she threw her bag at the truck and Walli drove over Hoffman, stopped again and drove off. He was arrested at a home several hours later.

Prosecutors have asked for a 20-year sentence with five years suspended. Walli will be sentenced Oct. 7 in Valdez.

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Information from: KTUU-TV, http://www.ktuu.com