A man who faced capital murder charges in the death of a taxi driver in Hollywood pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 11 years in state prison, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Najib Halibi, 35, pleaded to the lesser charge in the death of Asifawosen Alemseged.
Halibi, a passenger in the cab, got into a fight with Alemseged over a $24.75 fare at a gas station in Hollywood in 2016, police said.
There were three passengers in the Yellow Cab that morning, all strangers, police said. The other two passengers helped identify the suspect, police said.
Alemseged was known in his native Ethiopia as an actor, singer and poet.
Friend and colleague Mekebib Seifu, who bonded 25 years ago when both men moved to LA from the same town in Ethiopia, said at the time of Halibi's arrest that Alemseged was "one of the good drivers."
