A 32-year-old man accused of strangling to death his girlfriend with a belt in a Southeast Portland motel room pleaded guilty Thursday to first-degree manslaughter.

The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office has not yet announced what sentence Joshua Scott Carlson will receive at a hearing next week. But Oregon law requires at least a 10-year prison term.

Carlson was charged with murder for the death of 42-year-old Valerie Johnson on April 21, 2017, at the Motel 6 near Southeast Powell Boulevard and 31st Avenue.

He was caught after police noticed a stolen SUV parked in the motel’s lot. After watching the car for a while, an officer saw Carlson get in and drive off, according to the DA’s office.

A high-speed chase ensued, but it wasn’t until later that officers located the SUV abandoned near Southeast 51st Avenue and Gladstone Street. Officers found Carlson hiding on the roof of a nearby home, the DA's office said.

But before finding Carlson, officers learned that Carlson had been in a specific room at the Motel 6. Inside, they found Johnson’s body.

-- Aimee Green