Pictured Above: Christian William Carney and Alvin Reed Lovely. Source: Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

Christian William Carney and Alvin Reed Lovely, former Camp Pendleton Marines, have been charged with murdering a fellow Marine. Carney was a drug dealer who sold Cocaine and Ecstasy while stationed at Camp Pendleton. Carney and Lovely believed that Marine Stephen Serrano had stolen Carney’s drug money from Carney’s room. Therefore, in May of 2008, Carney and Lovely drove Serrano to a secluded area in Orange County and shot him four times, killing him. Carney was charged and convicted of murder, criminal threats and dissuading a witness. He will be sentenced in January of 2012 and is expected to face a maximum sentence of 28 years and eight months to life in prison.

California Penal Code §187 defines murder as the unlawful and unjustified killing of another human being with malice aforethought. First-degree murder is murder committed with premeditation and deliberation. Premeditation means that the defendant rationally considered the timing or method of doing the act in order to either increase the likelihood of success or to evade detection. Deliberation means that the defendant has weighed the motives for the act against its consequences before deciding to engage in that act. If a murder has been committed with both premeditation and deliberation, you will be charged with first-degree murder. If you are charged with murder, or any other serious crime, contact an experienced criminal defense attorney right away to assist you in reducing your sentence.