| For Immediate Release Case # 08ZF0022
May 18, 2012 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami
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MARINE SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS IN PRISON FOR ROLE IN MURDER OF FELLOW MARINE IN DISPUTE OVER STOLEN DRUG MONEY
*Co-defendant was convicted by a jury and sentenced in this case
SANTA ANA – A Marine was sentenced today to 15 years in state prison for the shooting-murder of a fellow Marine in a secluded area of San Clemente over a dispute about stolen drug money. Alvin Reed Lovely, 24, Dallas, Texas, was stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton (Camp Pendleton) at the time of the crime and pleaded guilty today to one felony count of voluntary manslaughter, one felony count of criminal threats, and a sentencing enhancement for the personal use of a firearm in the commission of criminal threats.
Co-defendant Christian William Carney, 25, Manorville, NY, also a Marine at Camp Pendleton at the time of the crime, was found guilty by a jury Dec. 20, 2011, of one felony count of murder, one felony count of criminal threats and one felony count of attempting to dissuade a witness. He was sentenced to 28 years and eight months to life in state prison on March 2, 2012.
While stationed at Camp Pendleton, Carney was a drug dealer who sold cocaine and ecstasy. During the weekend of May 9, 2008, Carney drove to Texas to pick up Lovely, who had gone home for a visit and needed a ride back to the base. While Carney was gone, 20-year-old Stephen Serrano and his friend, Chad Hatch, broke into Carney’s room and stole his drug money.
When the defendants returned from Texas, a witness told them that he had seen Carney’s friend, Hatch, breaking into Carney’s room. The witness did not identify Serrano.
On May 13, 2008, the defendants drove Hatch to a secluded area in San Clemente, pointed a firearm at his head, and threatened to kill him if he did not tell them who had helped him steal the drug money from Carney’s room. The victim, fearing for his life, told them it had been Serrano.
The defendants drove Hatch back to Camp Pendleton and called Serrano using Hatch’s phone. They left Hatch at the base and instructed Serrano to leave the base with them. Carney and Lovely drove Serrano to a secluded area in San Clemente and shot him one time in the face and three times in the back. After murdering the victim, the defendants left the body and fled the scene.
After the murder but prior to the discovery of the victim’s body, Carney met with Hatch and instructed him not to talk to anybody about what they had done to Serrano. Serrano’s body was discovered by a jogger on May 15, 2008.
At the sentencing today and at Carney’s sentencing in March, a statement was read on behalf of Serrano’s mother Christl McKenny, who wrote in part, “Not only did he leave behind his six siblings but also a wife, Sophia, and five children, four of them stepchildren.