The man charged with the 2016 killing of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sergeant Steve Owen has pleaded guilty Thursday to first-degree murder and is expected to be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Trenton Lovell, 31, plead guilty to shooting Sgt. Owen, 53, in October of 2016 while Owen was responding to a break-in in Lancaster, reports Fox News. Los Angeles County Sheriff, Alex Villanueva, described the shooting as an “execution-style” killing.
Owen had radioed in that he had Lovell at gunpoint prior to Lovell shooting him, according to Fox News.
Police said another Deputy, Zachary Anderson, had arrived at the scene to find Lovell standing over Owen’s body.
After the officer shot Lovell in the shoulder, he then tried to steal Owen’s car and nearly hit Anderson. Lovell ran to a neighborhood and held two teens at gunpoint, police said. One of the teens faked a panic attack and was able to go call his mother.
Besides the first-degree murder charge, Lovell has pleaded guilty to burglary, felony possession of a gun, robbery, false imprisonment and attempted first-degree murder.
Sheriff Villanueva took to Twitter to show his support of Sgt. Owen and his family.
Today, the parolee who senselessly executed Sergeant Steve Owen & attempted to murder Deputy Zachary Anderson pled guilty, resulting in an agreed upon sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. pic.twitter.com/67bE1NiHyv
— Alex Villanueva (@LACoSheriff) April 23, 2021
Los Angeles District Attorney, George Gascón, commented on Sgt. Owen saying, “Sgt. Owen sacrificed his life to protect the community he served. This plea will not bring Sgt. Owen back but will hopefully provide some small measure of peace to his family.”
LASD Sgt. Steve Owen remembered 2 years after being killed in the line of duty https://t.co/1AzutWHA4l pic.twitter.com/wFaUfSvwuu
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) October 6, 2018
Owen was a 29-year veteran of the department and left behind a wife and children, Los Angeles Daily News reported.