More than nine years after a teacher’s aide was fatally shot in Northwest Baltimore in a case of mistaken identity, a 43-year-old man has pleaded guilty to federal charges that he orchestrated the shooting, court records show.

Law enforcement authorities had long said they believed Matthew Hightower was behind the May 27, 2016, shooting of Latrina Ashburne, 41, a murder for which two men were previously convicted. But it wasn’t until 2023 that federal authorities obtained a grand jury indictment charging Hightower, whose trial was slated to begin today.

Instead, Hightower, who is already serving a 30-year sentence for health care fraud and a separate murder, pleaded guilty. His agreement calls for federal prosecutors to ask for an additional 60 years behind bars, but a judge will have the final say. A sentencing date was not immediately set.

“For over nine years, federal law enforcement has worked tirelessly to see justice done in this horrific crime,” said former Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Zelinsky, who worked the case from its inception until departing the office earlier this year. “The life of an extraordinary woman was senselessly ended in a craven attempt to escape justice. I hope this plea provides some small bit of closure for Ms. Ashburne’s grieving family, and may her memory be a blessing.”

Hightower was initially charged in 2015 with committing health care fraud — a scam to overcharge Medicaid for adult diapers — and killing a man named David Wutoh in an effort to cover up that fraud. Through the discovery process, Hightower learned the name of a witness who had provided information to law enforcement about both, according to his plea agreement.

In the 2016 case, authorities said Ashburne was gunned down as she left the home she shared with her mother. Ashburne, who was also an associate pastor at Kingdom Restoration Church, had nothing to do with Hightower’s case, but lived in the same block and bore a resemblance to the witness, authorities have said.

A search of Hightower’s jail cell that day turned up a piece of paper containing a list of names and phone numbers. On the list was Davon Carter, who was seen on surveillance video fleeing the apartment complex after the shooting, prosecutors said. Earlier in the morning, a silver Audi belonging to Hightower was seen casing the area.

Carter and a second man, Clifton Mosley, were convicted of carrying out the shooting.

Both men were each sentenced in 2021 to four life sentences.

In his plea agreement filed Monday, Hightower admitted he paid Carter in cash and marijuana to kill the witness.

In recent weeks, federal prosecutors told a judge they were considering whether to pursue the death penalty against Hightower. At that time, his standby attorneys questioned whether Hightower was competent to stand trial, saying they had “observed thinking that is not based in reality that gives rise to reasonable cause to believe that Mr. Hightower may be suffering from a mental disease or defect.”

That defense motion was rescinded two days later after Hightower’s attorneys said he had been under stress over the prospect of facing the death penalty.